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 39:1-30
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 his ropes?
6 I gave him the wasteland as his home,
the salt flats as his habitat.
7 He laughs at the commotion in the town;
he does not hear a driver's shout.
8 He ranges the hills for his pasture
and searches for any green thing.
9 "Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
Will he stay by your manger at night?
10 Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness?
Will he till the valleys behind you?
11 Will you rely on him for his great strength?
Will you leave your heavy work to him?
12 Can you trust him to bring in your grain
and gather it to your threshing floor?
13 "The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
but they cannot compare with the pinions 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 his strength
or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?
20 Do you make him leap like a locust,
striking terror with his proud snorting?
21 He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength,
and charges into the fray.
22 He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
he does not shy away from the sword.
23 The quiver rattles against his side,
along with the flashing spear and lance.
24 In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground;
he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
25 At the blast of the trumpet he snorts, 'Aha!'
He 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 his wings toward the south?
27 Does the eagle soar at your command
and build his nest on high?
28 He dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
a rocky crag is his stronghold.
29 From there he seeks out his food;
his eyes detect it from afar.
30 His young ones feast on blood,
and where the slain are, there is he."
Job is the classic story of the Problem of Pain, the Problem of Suffering...Job suffered greatly and wanted answers from his friends, but more importantly from God...He did not get any answers from his friends...In chapter thirty eight after much dialog of Job and his friends...The Bible says, God comes out of a storm and answers Job...When God is there, Job gets no statements, only questions...God is the author of life...He is our author...He is our creator...As our Author and Creator He gives us what we need...He says trust Me, Job...
Many years ago, my boss, whom I greatly respect and love, son died...My boss was my mentor...Now my boss was the toughest man I had ever met...He made many tough decisions, in many stressful times...He could make the good, tough decision in the most stressful of times...Most of the time, he was right, in these tough decisions...He was not only mentally tough but physically tough...Once he was mowing an incline on his yard, and his big John Deere riding lawn mower tipped and fell on him...As he was telling me the story, he said the first thing he did after he couldn't move the big mower off -so he could move out from under it, was check his watch...I ask why would you do that?...He said he wanted to know how much time it was going to take or be freed from the mower...He said he was near his street and and every time a car would go by, he would yell out for help...It took awhile, but someone did hear his call, and he was rescued, and unharmed...Now when his son died, he cried...I had never him seen cry before... He was devastated (and I was a little more than devastated observing this)...We went to his son's funeral, and I felt so bad for him and his family...I used to think I was smart and clever...I am not...In the midst of his deepest suffering, I had nothing for him...I had no words for him...Nothing I could say about his son was going to be right...For the next few weeks at work was tough seeing him and watching him grieve...Over the next several weeks he looked better, and I could see him feeling better...No one word or group of words got him through this...
One must live through suffering...Somehow we must live through the terrible times of our lives...Over this time, I was there for him, but even after his great loss, I had no words for him...No words I could speak would suffice, even now years after this terrible death...Sometimes, during certain times, words are not enough...Words, then more words, and then more (words)...Are words enough for some sufferings?...Are words enough to satisfy the heart of the sufferer?...Or do we need Something more?...
Job in all his early dialog and questions, is really "God why me, why are You making me suffer?"...When God comes and addresses Job, He does not give Job an answer...Job wanted an explanation from our LORD, but God did not give him one...God does not give Job an answer in words, He gives Job questions...In fact, He gives Job many questions...For more than two chapters God gives Job question after question about creation, and the creatures He created...In asking Job, where were you when I created the earth -Job seems to understand...God our Author, writes words in our Book of our life...When we are writing a letter or story to someone, or even a book to others, we are the author...In our letter to someone, we are the author...If someone else takes over our letter in the middle of us writing and continues it, then we are not the total author of it, and our ideas would become not ours but would be a mixture of things...It is no longer one idea, but a combination of authors...Our letter maybe better with some help...In fact, we may need some help with our letter or book...God doesn't...He does not need Job as an adviser...God is the Total Author of everything...God is THE AUTHOR OF LIFE...He did not ask for Job's help or mine, when He created everything in the beginning...God understands everything...
After listening to question after question from our LORD, Job knows he can't answer or even understand any of the questions being ask...He was not there when God created the universe...In God's great plan for us, in the beginning, we were not there...We do not understand God's plan...We also do not understand why we suffer...God does...It is part and in His Master Plan...God was there when He created the universe...He has a plan...He knows why Job and all of us suffer...
God was there, with Job and his friends...Job (and his friends) got to see God...Job spoke to God, albeit madly at Him...Job engaged God, was mad at Him and spoke to Him...While his friends talked about God, but not to Him...God, in the end, tells Eliphaz the Temanite, that "I AM angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has."...He knows when we are angry and suffering...He wants us to talk to Him in dialog...When we engage our Father in our life, He wants this...
When we are suffering and in prayer, we must remember -God does not need us, we need Him...He understands...Trust Me, He says...
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28)...We must learn to trust Him in all our circumstances...Job's answer came as soon as God Presence was felt...Job knew then that there was Something much deeper than he could understand...He now had more information on God...What Job had thought about God was much enhanced when he felt His Presence...He got well that day, and maybe that instance of meeting his Father...