Job 38:1-41
The LORD Speaks
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:
2 "Who is this that darkens my counsel
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?
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 shadow of death?
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 man lives,
a desert with no one in it,
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 beautiful Pleiades?
Can you loose the cords of Orion?
32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons
or lead out the Bear with its cubs?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God's 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 endowed the heart with wisdom
or gave understanding to the mind ?
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 42:1-6
Epilogue of Job
1 Then Job replied to the LORD:
2 "I know that you can do all things;
no plan of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel 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.
When LORD came out of the storm, He ask Job questions...The first question was: "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?...God told Job to brace himself like a man; and then He would question him...And God wanted Job to answer Him after His questions...
There are certain things man can understand and there are certain questions and areas in life and the universe we do not understand...These deep questions of life can only be answered by Someone with Complete Understanding...
When God came out of a storm and questions Job, He asks him many different questions...And God's questions are deep questions, and questions about things long, long ago...After the many questions of God's are asked to Job, he comes to realize that he has only a limited amount of understanding...He actually does lack the knowledge to answer any of God's questions...Complete Understanding is needed to answer the questions God asks Job...And one bit of knowledge must lead to another bit of knowledge to understand more and more things, as we study all of God's questions to Job...To answer all the questions, God asks Job, Job needed not only bits of knowledge here and there, and a great ability to reason, he also needed Complete Knowledge, which is only known to God...
Only God has eternal understanding...Complete Understanding is attainable only by God...For Job and all men, we are limited in our understanding of all the things in the universe...If it is our goal to understand everything and all the deep questions of life and creation, then we will be only frustrated by these deep questions such as the purpose of life, why is man on earth, what specifically happened in creation to cause man to inhabit the earth, why are there tragedies, and why do we suffer...And in the end, Job understands the limit of his own understanding and says, “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 has come to understand the limits of his own understanding...He will not be able to understand why people suffer...