God…enter stage right.
I kind of wonder if the reason that Elihu started talking about storms was that he actually saw a storm approaching, the very storm, in fact, from which God spoke.
Some people may question why I tend to say that Elihu, in the main, was right. The answer is basically found in chapter 40, where God asks Job,
Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself? (Job 40:8)
Which was the whole reason why Elihu was so upset with Job in the first place (32:2), and the theme of his whole speech. Also, much of what Elihu said in the latter part of his speech, God repeats here.
Namely, “Who are you to question me?” God asks Job,
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. (Job 38:2-3)
And again,
Who has put wisdom in the mind? Or who has given understanding to the heart? (38:36)
And yet again,
Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him! (40:2)
In other words, “Job, you’re spewing out all these words, but you have no idea what you’re talking about. What’s more, think for a minute Job. Who gave you the ability to even reason? I am. Yet you think you can argue with me?”
And throughout these chapters, God reminds Job just how small and limited he really is.
Job wasn’t there when God created the world. He had no knowledge concerning how God put things together or of the laws of nature that God set in place (38:4-11).
His experiences were similarly limited. He had not entered the depths of the sea nor explored the breadth of the earth, nor had he ever visited outer space where the sun resides. He had never even gone as high as the clouds (38:16-24).
What’s more, he had no power to control nature, to grow grass, make it thunder or rain, to bring out the stars, or provide food for the animals (38:25-41).
He never created any of the animals. He never gave the ostrich its speed, the ox and horse their strength, or the eagle its ability to fly. He didn’t even have the ability to tame all the animals in the world (chapter 39).
And if he couldn’t even contend with the behemoth (it’s not clear what God is referring to here, perhaps the hippo or the elephant) or the leviathan (perhaps the alligator or an extinct type of sea reptile), how could he hope to contend with their Creator (chapters 40-41)?
Faced with his own limitations and inadequacies, Job humbled himself before God and said,
I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You…
I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. (42:2-3)
What can we get from all this?
I’ve mentioned this before and it’s worth repeating. Job never did get the answers to why God had allowed him to suffer. He was now sure that God wasn’t punishing him for anything. But other than that, he knew nothing.
God never sat him down and said, “Now what really happened is that I was having a conversation with Satan, and…”
And yet, in the end, the whys didn’t matter to Job anymore. What did matter to him?
My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. (42:5)
In other words, “God, the whys are not so important to me anymore. What’s important is that I now know that you are here, and that you do care.
“You are so much greater than I am. You know so much more than I ever could. And you had no obligation to come meet with me. But you cared enough to do so, anyway.
“And so now, I’ll just humble myself before you, and lay all my questions to rest.”
We may never understand the whys to all our questions. God may never tell us. But there are three important things that we should never forget in the midst of our trials and sufferings.
- God is in control, and he knows what he’s doing, even when we don’t.
- God is here, even when we can’t sense his presence.
- God does care.
Let us never doubt these three things. That’s the message of Job in a nutshell.
May we, like Job, hold on to these truths through the trials and sufferings we face in this life.
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 