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In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
“Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.”
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone — while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?”
“Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’?”
“Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it? The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment. The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken.”
“Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness? Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.”
“What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings? Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!”
“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle? What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth? Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no one lives, an uninhabited desert, to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass? Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew? From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen?”
“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Can you loosen Orion’s belt? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?”
“Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’? Who gives the ibis wisdom or gives the rooster understanding? Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together?”
“Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket? Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?”
“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? They crouch down and bring forth their young; their labor pains are ended. Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds; they leave and do not return.”
“Who let the wild donkey go free? Who untied its ropes? I gave it the wasteland as its home, the salt flats as its habitat. It laughs at the commotion in the town; it does not hear a driver’s shout. It ranges the hills for its pasture and searches for any green thing.”
“Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will it stay by your manger at night? Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness? Will it till the valleys behind you? Will you rely on it for its great strength? Will you leave your heavy work to it? Can you trust it to haul in your grain and bring it to your threshing floor?”
“The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, though they cannot compare with the wings and feathers of the stork. She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand, unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them. She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers; she cares not that her labor was in vain, for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense. Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider.”
“Do you give the horse its strength or clothe its neck with a flowing mane? Do you make it leap like a locust, striking terror with its proud snorting? It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength, and charges into the fray. It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; it does not shy away from the sword. The quiver rattles against its side, along with the flashing spear and lance. In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground; it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds. 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.”
“Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the south? Does the eagle soar at your command and build its nest on high? It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night; a rocky crag is its stronghold. From there it looks for food; its eyes detect it from afar. Its young ones feast on blood, and where the slain are, there it is.”
The Lord said to Job:
“Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!”
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.”
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.”
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm:
“Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.”
“Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself? Do you have an arm like God’s, and can your voice thunder like his? Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor, and clothe yourself in honor and majesty. Unleash the fury of your wrath, look at all who are proud and bring them low, look at all who are proud and humble them, crush the wicked where they stand. Bury them all in the dust together; shroud their faces in the grave. Then I myself will admit to you that your own right hand can save you.”
“Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. What strength it has in its loins, what power in the muscles of its belly! Its tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are close-knit. Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like rods of iron. It ranks first among the works of God, yet its Maker can approach it with his sword. The hills bring it their produce, and all the wild animals play nearby. Under the lotus plants it lies, hidden among the reeds in the marsh. The lotuses conceal it in their shadow; the poplars by the stream surround it. A raging river does not alarm it; it is secure, though the Jordan should surge against its mouth. Can anyone capture it by the eyes, or trap it and pierce its nose?”
“Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope? Can you put a cord through its nose or pierce its jaw with a hook? Will it keep begging you for mercy? Will it speak to you with gentle words? Will it make an agreement with you for you to take it as your slave for life? Can you make a pet of it like a bird or put it on a leash for the young women in your house? Will traders barter for it? Will they divide it up among the merchants? Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears? If you lay a hand on it, you will remember the struggle and never do it again! Any hope of subduing it is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering. No one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against me? Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.”
“I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs, its strength and its graceful form. Who can strip off its outer coat? Who can penetrate its double coat of armor? Who dares open the doors of its mouth, ringed about with fearsome teeth? Its back has rows of shields tightly sealed together; each is so close to the next that no air can pass between. They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted. Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the rays of dawn. Flames stream from its mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. Smoke pours from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds. Its breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from its mouth. Strength resides in its neck; dismay goes before it. The folds of its flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable. Its chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone. When it rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before its thrashing. The sword that reaches it has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin. Iron it treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood. Arrows do not make it flee; slingstones are like chaff to it. A club seems to it but a piece of straw; it laughs at the rattling of the lance. Its undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment. It leaves a glistening wake behind it; one would think the deep had white hair. Nothing on earth is its equal — a creature without fear. It looks down on all that are haughty; it is king over all that are proud.”
Then Job replied to the Lord:
“I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 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.”
“You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
Job 38:1-41, 39:1-30, 40:1-24, 41:1-34, 42:1-6
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Outside of the Creation account in Genesis, my favorite account of God’s creative power and majesty comes at the end of the Book of Job. This passage, from Chapter 38 through the beginning of Chapter 42 is one that all believers should read regularly so that we all might be reminded of the amazing nature of the God we serve – our Maker, Redeemer, and Friend.
Up to this point of this book, we have heard plenty of words spoken by Job, His three friends – Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, and a younger man named Elihu. All in some way or another, spoke as if they knew the very nature of God. Job went further to question God’s justice especially as it applied to his suffering and over and over wished to have an audience with God so he could state his case and defend himself.
Remember the old saying, “Be careful what you wish for?”
For as Chapter 38 begins, the Lord begins to speak and speak with the authority, wisdom, and knowledge that is exclusively His. God will have the last word.
Indeed, Job had questioned God an awful lot during his discourses. Now it was God telling Job, “Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.”
The Lord then goes into His flowing description of things He had created, things that could have been fashioned by no one else but Him. There are no words I can write that would be able to highlight the nature of God better than His own words. I pray that you’ll read them and then read them again, marking this passage in your Bibles and returning to it regularly – and telling others about it, especially those who are wanting to know about the awesome God we exalt, adore, and praise. Make sure you let them know that God is even greater than the words He spoke!
Yes, God had the last word with Job. He always will have the last word. For no matter what man might do, say, or think in life, God will reign supreme and one day send His one and only Son Jesus back to earth, not as the loving, healing, nurturing, teaching Savior that came the first time but rather as the Judge of all Creation – the Creation that God gave His Son rule over. Sent by His Father, Jesus will come and have the last word.
As we see in our passage, Job’s reply to God’s last word was simple. He saw himself as unworthy to even be in the company of God. He chose to be silent and to allow God to speak. He despised himself and repented in the dust and ashes, ashamed that he had been so out of line before His Creator.
Friends, we have a lot to learn from Job. Many of us can relate to hardship and suffering and grief and ridicule and isolation. This is why we can relate well to Job and his struggles through his difficulties. Maybe we even found ourselves siding with him as he questioned God – maybe because we have done it ourselves or are doing it right now in our current life circumstances. It happens to us in our humanity.
But we also need to see the Job who encounters God in a powerful way and realizes who is really in charge. Job immediately deferred to the reverence and respect he should have had before God all along.
We would be well served to not wait as long as he did.
For God knows we are going to sin. It’s an affliction we can’t do anything about. But He does expect that we submit to His will and way, repenting when He reveals and exposes any sinful act we have committed, whether by action, word, or thought. God is ever speaking to us, guiding us by way of the Holy Spirit. We need to ever be listening to Him, bowing before Him in silence with an eagerness to hear His voice.
If you listen, He will speak to you. If you don’t, He will bring you to a place where you will listen and He will speak loud and clear, just as He did to Job.
And if you choose to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you will join Him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17) to live with Him forever along with the rest of the saints when He returns. If you don’t, then death is the end for you - your name will not be listed in the book of life and hell and destruction awaits you when Christ returns (Revelation 20:11-15).
In either instance, God will have the last word. Trust in that.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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