Job 38:1-40:5--The Lord Speaks and Job Responds

The Lord Answers Job
38 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Dress for action like a man;
    I will question you, and you make it known to me.

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
    Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
    Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk,
    or who laid its cornerstone,
7 when the morning stars sang together
    and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors
    when it burst out from the womb,
9 when I made clouds its garment
    and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 and prescribed limits for it
    and set bars and doors,
11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
    and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?

12 “Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
    and caused the dawn to know its place,
13 that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
    and the wicked be shaken out of it?
14 It is changed like clay under the seal,
    and its features stand out like a garment.
15 From the wicked their light is withheld,
    and their uplifted arm is broken.

16 “Have you entered into the springs of the sea,
    or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
    or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
18 Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
    Declare, if you know all this.

19 “Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
    and where is the place of darkness,
20 that you may take it to its territory
    and that you may discern the paths to its home?
21 You know, for you were born then,
    and the number of your days is great!

22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
    or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
    for the day of battle and war?
24 What is the way to the place where the light is distributed,
    or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?

25 “Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain
    and a way for the thunderbolt,
26 to bring rain on a land where no man is,
    on the desert in which there is no man,
27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
    and to make the ground sprout with grass?

28 “Has the rain a father,
    or who has begotten the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb did the ice come forth,
    and who has given birth to the frost of heaven?
30 The waters become hard like stone,
    and the face of the deep is frozen.

31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades
    or loose the cords of Orion?
32 Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,
    or can you guide the Bear with its children?
33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
    Can you establish their rule on the earth?

34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
    that a flood of waters may cover you?
35 Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go
    and say to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts
    or given understanding to the mind?
37 Who can number the clouds by wisdom?
    Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
38 when the dust runs into a mass
    and the clods stick fast together?
​
39 “Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
    or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 when they crouch in their dens
    or lie in wait in their thicket?
41 Who provides for the raven its prey,
    when its young ones cry to God for help,
    and wander about for lack of food?

39“Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
    Do you observe the calving of the does?
2 Can you number the months that they fulfill,
    and do you know the time when they give birth,
3 when they crouch, bring forth their offspring,
    and are delivered of their young?
4 Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open;
    they go out and do not return to them.

5 “Who has let the wild donkey go free?
    Who has loosed the bonds of the swift donkey,
6 to whom I have given the arid plain for his home
    and the salt land for his dwelling place?
7 He scorns the tumult of the city;
    he hears not the shouts of the driver.
8 He ranges the mountains as his pasture,
    and he searches after every green thing.

9 “Is the wild ox willing to serve you?
    Will he spend the night at your manger?
10 Can you bind him in the furrow with ropes,
    or will he harrow the valleys after you?
11 Will you depend on him because his strength is great,
    and will you leave to him your labor?
12 Do you have faith in him that he will return your grain
    and gather it to your threshing floor?

13 “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly,
    but are they the pinions and plumage of love?
14 For she leaves her eggs to the earth
    and lets them be warmed on the ground,
15 forgetting that a foot may crush them
    and that the wild beast may trample them.
16 She deals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers;
    though her labor be in vain, yet she has no fear,
17 because God has made her forget wisdom
    and given her no share in understanding.
18 When she rouses herself to flee,
    she laughs at the horse and his rider.

19 “Do you give the horse his might?
    Do you clothe his neck with a mane?
20 Do you make him leap like the locust?
    His majestic snorting is terrifying.
21 He paws in the valley and exults in his strength;
    he goes out to meet the weapons.
22 He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
    he does not turn back from the sword.
23 Upon him rattle the quiver,
    the flashing spear, and the javelin.
24 With fierceness and rage he swallows the ground;
    he cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet.
25 When the trumpet sounds, he says ‘Aha!’
    He smells the battle from afar,
    the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars
    and spreads his wings toward the south?
27 Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up
    and makes his nest on high?
28 On the rock he dwells and makes his home,
    on the rocky crag and stronghold.
29 From there he spies out the prey;
    his eyes behold it from far away.
30 His young ones suck up blood,
    and where the slain are, there is he.”

40 And the Lord said to Job:

2 “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
    He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

Job Promises Silence3 Then Job answered the Lord and said:

4 “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?
    I lay my hand on my mouth.
5 I have spoken once, and I will not answer;
    twice, but I will proceed no further.”

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Here it is!  The moment we have all been waiting for, and the moment that Job has been asking for.  God shows up, but instead of showing up as the one who is going to answer the questions, God shows up in a mighty way and asks the questions--questions that are going to sound very familiar if you paid attention to what Elihu asked Job.

Let's be clear that God is speaking to Job (at least at first).  God lays out His own set of charges first that Job darkens His counsel (His presence) as one without knowledge (Job is making baseless accusations that are not founded on facts, but feelings and assumptions).   God turns the tables on Job and tells him to prepare for his own defense, because God is going to question him since he fancies himself so wise that he has something to teach God.

God then asks Job a series of rhetorical questions that reveal who He is by what He has done.  Again, many of these things will sound familiar to us because Job and Elihu both used many of these illustrations throughout their arguments.  God created everything perfectly with structure and order.  He made it "just so" for the good of all who live here, especially man, and to reflect His wisdom and His glory, but sin has corrupted that perfect design for God's original creation and has brought judgment and condemnation on all who rebel against God, and God must judge "the wicked" by withholding "good" things from them (blessings) and with the addition of "bad" things (trials, tribulations, judgments, plagues, and other instruments of correction) to turn men's hearts towards repentance and to remove those so wicked that they would corrupt all other men around them that are also in need of repentance.

Here specifically though we see God as Creator and Ruling Sustain or all--the Lord of All Creation.  We cannot control nature, fully understand its power or its processes, or appreciate the fullness of its beauty, but all of it was created and established by the very Word of God--He spoke and it was (See Genesis 1).

God points to to the weather, the seas, the foundations of the earth, the constellations, the starry hosts of heaven, and the animals all to exhibit His infinite wisdom, power and control--even when things seem to be out of control.  I know it's a lot of text for today, but I encourage you to read and re-read this this passage of Scripture over, and over, and over again and let it really sink in.  Do we too have a "little" view of God in the midst of our seemingly "big" problems?  What happens to our problems when we set our gaze on a "big" God that can speak and all nature obeys and is subject to His righteous judgment?  Do the problems change?  No, but how we view our problems changes when we stop trying to find our own solutions to them and we put the problems into the hands of a God big enough to deal with them.

Job gets a huge lesson on theology (who and what God is--His nature, character, and "invisible attributes" as revealed by what He has done and said), and it is said through the voice of thunder coming from a mighty whirlwind and in the presence of all of Job's friends who thought they were so wise that they could stand in the place of God and condemn Job--God is going to turn his attention to them soon, but he's not finished with Job yet, because Job doesn't quite get the message--Job still tries to answer God with a confession that is absent of repentance.  So, God once again will speak to Job in 40:6-41:34 to try to bring about the correct response.

Isn't it great that God doesn't just speak to us one time and wait for us to figure it out before He speaks to us again?  Ever have someone like that?  "Nope, I said it and you weren't listening.  Now I'm just going to wait for you to figure it out on your own."  Oh, what a sorry state we'd be in if God treated us that way!  Praise the Lord that He's patient with our ignorance and foolishness and that He doesn't just destroy us for our pride and arrogance.  He plays the "long game" much better than we do as He is eternal, but knows that we have a limited amount of time to make our decision to repent and believe--He is the only one who knows the number of our days because He is the one who has numbered them and ordained them all.  Even the calamity that He brings upon us is for our good (if we repent and respond in faith) and for His glory (no matter how we respond).  Like Job we often want to question God's plan and think we can instruct God on how to do things better in our lives, but God calls this folly, darkness and a lack of knowledge (about who He is and His character and attributes).  If we really understood who He was and believed those attributes applied in our lives and the current situation we would not lack the faith to where we would need to put God to the test and ask Him to prove His goodness and justice and mercy and so on to us.  God need not prove anything to His creation because creation puts His attributes on display, as does all that He has done in the past (and we have even more of that recorded for us).  Everything God was in the past, He is right now, and He will continue to be forever and ever.  He cannot change.  Praise the Lord for this fact that we can hang onto the certainty of who He is and know that He is the same yesterday, today and forever!

How do you respond to the words of God here?  Is it adoration of who He is?  Is it thanksgiving for what he has done?  Is it confession and repentance for how you have failed?  Is it supplication for asking Him to supply all your needs and take care of all those situations that need to be put in His hands instead of yours?  All of these are appropriate responses to God's Word, but most of all let it sink in, take root, change you and bear fruit--fruit that is in accordance with repentance.