Job 38

Okay, so we've kind of come to, I guess you could say that kind of the climax of of the

Book of Job. I mean, we've thought about it, we've been in it 10 months, and like I said, we've got four more chapters, it'll take five weeks after it will end on May 19th.

And what I want to do this morning is I want to take some time and I want to just kind of bring us up to this point by just looking at a couple of scriptures, and then

I want to read a bit this morning together, because I think it'll be helpful as we get into these last chapters, and remember this chapter 38 through 42 is where God finally, not finally, but God enters into the conversation that's been going on between Job and the friends and Elihu, and basically answers the situation according to his thoughts, and not just men's thoughts.

But, so, let's follow me a little bit here. I want you to go back to the chapter 1 for a second, and I want to read something, just a couple of verses, and a couple of verses in chapter 2, a couple of verses in chapter 31, and then we're going to read from 38 to 42.

I think I can get through it just reading it without comment, hopefully without comment.

But I want us to try to think through these things. So remember in the very first chapter when

Satan came up before the Lord, and in verse 8 it says, the

Lord said to Satan, have you considered, I'm in chapter 1 verse 8, have you considered my servant

Job that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears

God and shuns evil? And so Satan answered the Lord and said, does Job fear

God for nothing? Have you not made a hedge around him, around his household, around all that he has on every side?

You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

Okay, so I want us to focus in on the fact that what God says concerning Job.

God said to Satan that Job, his servant, was blameless and upright.

Okay, and so keep that in mind. And then in chapter 2, remember it happens again after the first situation of Satan attacking him through his kids and his goods and whatnot.

And then in chapter 2 verse 2 it says, the Lord said to Satan, from whence do you come?

And Satan answered the Lord and said, from going to and from back in the earth, walking back on it.

And then verse 3, the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? There is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears

God and shuns evil. And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without cause.

So, twice in the beginning of the book, God calls Job blameless and upright.

Okay, just keep that in mind. Now, remember how the book progresses.

It then comes, his three friends come in, and what do they do? They make an accusation against Job that Job is a wicked man and that he's sown iniquity and he's reaping punishment from God.

And the bulk of the book is this conversation, right, that goes back and forth between Job and the friends and Job answers them and then they come in one by one and we went through all that.

So, I want you to go now to chapter 31 in the book of Job. Again, I'm trying to set up the last four weeks where we'll look at each of those last four chapters one at a time.

But I want you to see something. So, remember the conversation has gone back and forth. You're evil, no

I'm not, I maintain my integrity. Now, in chapter 31, this is where we read of Job basically giving his defense.

And let me just read it a little bit with you and focus in on what I think

Job was trying to get across. So, in chapter 31, Job says, I've made a covenant with my eyes, why then should

I look upon a young woman? And if you begin to read through it, look in verse 5, and I'm just going to pick a few verses.

In verse 5, he says, if I have walked with falsehood, let my foot or my foot is hastened to deceit, let me be weighed in a just balance.

And then verse 7, if my step has turned aside. Verse 9, if my heart has been enticed by a woman.

Verse 13, if I despise the cause of my manservant, excuse me, or my maidservant.

Verse 16, if I kept back, kept the poor from their desire. And this goes on and on throughout the chapter.

Verse 19, if I've seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, if his heart has not been blessed, if his heart has not blessed me, if I have, verse 21, if I raise my hand against the fatherless.

And it goes on and on. In verse 24, if I made gold my hope. Verse 29, if I have rejoiced in the destruction of him who hated me.

Verse 31, if the men of my tent have not said, who has not been satisfied with Job's meat.

Verse 33, if I covered my transgression. And if you read through the remaining of the chapter, this is basically

Job's defense. Job is saying, if I've done these things that you are making an accusation against me, then

I should be destroyed. However, this is his, if you will, his defense about his integrity before God.

Remember now, in chapter 1, God said he was upright and blameless, and went through the book, and then in chapter 31, like I said, and this is really, look at the last verse in this chapter.

In chapter 31, look what he says, the words of Job are ended. So that really was his, if you will, his final defensive statement.

And then remember, Elihu comes in at chapter 32, and he takes up four or five chapters where he's trying to set the record straight.

Okay, that is about as quick as I could be in trying to get us to the point of chapter 38.

So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to read from chapter 38, if I can, through chapter 42 without any comment.

I want us to read it together, and I want you to just think of one thing for this morning.

And you don't even have to answer it now, we'll discuss it next week. But here's a question that I want you to think about, and see if you believe that this question is answered in the final four chapters when

God comes in. So does God answer

Job's question? What was Job's question? Job's question was this, and I can summarize it this way.

Why? That's basically the summary that we're going to come to. Job has been struggling with this.

Remember, we just read in chapter 31, he maintains his integrity before God, and I want us simply to answer that question in our own mind.

And it's going to take a while to work through it, believe me, if you think about the book. But does God answer this question of why

God has, in a sense, why God has hunted him? Because that's what he says.

If you remember, he said, God was hunting me. God hunted him. Okay. Is that question answered in the final four chapters?

Okay, so here's what I'm going to do. I have a hard time saying it. I'm going to sit down and read this, and I hope that you will read along with me.

And I think the reason why I'm doing it this way is because I don't want to interfere with these final words that come in as we get through.

Cool? Okay. Since I'm doing a class, it's going to be cool. Chapter 38.

Then the Lord answered Job out of the world, when it said, Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

Now prepare yourself like a man, and I will question you, and you will answer me. Where were you when

I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding, who determined its measurements?

Surely you know. Who stretched out the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened?

Who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Or, who shut in the sea with doors when it first fought and issued from the womb?

When I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band?

When I fixed my limit for it, and set bars and doors? When I said, This far you may come, but no farther, and here you proud waves must stop.

Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?

It takes form like clay under a seal, and stands out like a garment from the wicked, their light is withheld, and the upraised arm is broken.

Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in search of the deeps?

Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?

Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell me, if you know this, where is the way of dwelling light and darkness when it's, where is its place, that you may take hold of its territory, that you may know the path to its home?

Do you know it, because you were born then, or because the number of your days are great?

Have you entered the treasury of snow? Have you seen the treasury of hell, which I reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?

But what way is light diffused, or the east wind scattered over the earth? Who has divided a channel from the overflowing water, or a path for the thunderbolt, who caused it to rain on a land where there is no one, and a wilderness in which there is no man, to satisfy the desolate waste, and cause the spring forth the growth of tender grass?

Has the rain a father? Who has begotten the drops of dew? From whose womb comes the ice and the frost of heaven?

Who gives it birth? The waters harden like stone, and the surface of the deep is frozen.

Can you bind the cluster of Pleiades, or loose the belt of Orion? Can you bring out

Nazareth in its season? Can you guide the great bear with its cubs? Do you know the ordinances of heaven?

Can you set dominion over the earth? Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that an abundance of water may cover you?

Can you send out lightnings, that they may go and say to you, here we are? Who has put wisdom in the mind, or who has given understanding to the heart?

Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven when the dust hardens in clumps, and the clods cling together?

Can you hunt the prey for the lion? Satisfy the appetite of the young lions when they crouch in their dens, or lurk in their lairs to lie in wait?

Who provides food for the raven when its young ones cry to God and wonder for lack of food?

Do you know the time when the wild mountain goat bears young? Or can you mark the deer when it gives birth?

Can you know the months that they fulfill? Or do you know the time when they bear young? They bow down, and they bring forth their young, and they deliver their offspring, and their young ones are healthy, and they grow strong and with grain, and they depart and do not return to them.

Who set the wild donkey free? Who loosed the bounds of the onager? Whose home

I have made in the wilderness, and the barren land is dwelling? He scorns the tumult of the city.

He doesn't heed the shouts of the driver. The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searches after every green thing.

Will the wild ox be willing to serve you? Will he bed by your manger?

Can you bind the wild ox in the furrow with ropes? Or will he plow in the valleys behind you?

Will you trust him because his strength is great? Or will you leave your labor to him?

Do you trust him to bring home your grain and gather it to your threshing floor?

The wings of the ostrich they wave proudly, but are her wings and pinions like the kindly stalk?

For she leaves her eggs on the ground and warms them in the dust, and she begets that a foot may crush him, or that a wild beast may break them.

She treats her young harshly as though they were not hers. Her labor is in vain without concern, because God deprived her of wisdom and did not endow her with understanding when she lifted herself on high.

She scorns the horse and its riders. Have you given the horse strength?

Have you clothed his neck with thunder? Can you frighten him like a locust?

His majestic snorting strikes terror. He paws in the valley and rejoices in his strength.

He gallops into the clash of arms, and he mocks at fear and is not frightened, nor does he turn back from the sword.

In the quiver rattles against him the glittering spear and the javelin, and he devours the distance with fierceness and rage, nor does he stand firm because the trumpet has sounded.

At the blast of the trumpet, he says, aha. He smells the battle from afar, the thunder of captains and shouting.

Does a hawk fly by your wisdom and spread its wings towards the south?

Does the eagle mount up at your command and make its nest on high? It dwells on the rock and resides on the crag of the rock and the stronghold.

There it spies out its prey and its eyes observe from afar. Its young ones suck up blood, and where the slain are, there it is.

Moreover, the Lord answered Job and said, Shall the one who contends with the

Almighty correct him? He who rebukes God, let him answer him.

Then Job answered the Lord and said, Behold, I am vile. What shall I answer you?

I lay my hand over my mouth once I have spoken, but I will not answer. Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.

Then the Lord answered Job out of the world, and said, Now prepare yourself like a man, and I will question you, and you will answer me.

Would you indeed know my judgment? Would you condemn me that you may be justified?

Have you an arm like God? Can you thunder with a voice like his?

Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor, and array yourself with glory and beauty, and disperse the rage of your wrath, and look on everyone who is proud and humble him.

Look on everyone who is proud and bring them low. Tread down the wicked in their place. Hide them in the dust together.

Bind their faces in hidden darkness. Then I will confess to you that you, your own right hand, can save you.

Look now at the behemoth which I made along with you. He eats grass like an ox.

See now, his strength is in his hips, and his power in his stomach muscles. He moves his tail like a cedar, and the sinews of his thighs are tightly knit, and his bones are like beams of bronze, and his ribs like bars of iron.

He is the first of the ways of God. Only he who made him can bring near his sword.

And surely the mountains yield food for him, and all the beasts play there. And he lies under the lotus tree in the cover of reeds and marsh, and the lotus trees cover him with their shade, and the willows by the brooks surround him.

Indeed the river may rage, yet he's not disturbed. He is confident, though the Jordan gushes into his mouth.

No, he takes it in his eyes, or one pierces his nose with a snare.

Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook, or snare his tongue with a line which you lower?

Can you put a reed through his nose, or pierce his jaw with a hook? Will he make many supplications to you?

Will he speak softly to you? Will he make a servant forever?

Will you play with him as with a bird, or will you leash him for your maidens? Will your companions make a banquet for him?

Will they apportion him among the virtues? Can you fill his skin with harpoons, or his head with fishing spears?

Lay your hands on him, remember the battle, and never do it again. Indeed any hope of overcoming him is vain.

Shall one not be overwhelmed at the sight of him? No one is so fierce that he would dare stir him up.

Who then is able to stand against me? Who has preceded me that I should pay him?

Everything under heaven is mine. I will not conceal his limbs, his mighty power, or his graceful proportions.

Who can remove his outer coat? Who can approach him with a double bridle?

Who can open the doors of his face with his terrible teeth all around? His rows of scales are his pride, and shut up tightly as with a seal.

One who is so near another that no air can come between them. And they are joined one to another.

They stick together and cannot be parted. And his sneezings flash forth light.

And his eyes are like the islands of the morning. And out of his mouth goes burning lights.

And sparks of fire shoot out. And smoke goes out of his nostril. That's from a boiling point in burning brushes.

And his breath kindles coals. And a flame goes out of his mouth. And strength dwells in his neck.

And sorrow dances before him. And the folds of his flesh are joined together. And they are firm on him, cannot be moved.

His heart is as hard as stone, even as hard as the lower millstone. When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid.

Because of the crashings, they are besides themselves. And though the sword reaches him, he cannot avail.

Nor the spear, dart, javelin. He regards iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood.

And the arrow cannot make him flee. And slingstones become like stubble before him.

And darts are regarded as straw. He laughs at the threat of the javelins.

His undersides are like sharp, sharp parchers. He spreads pointed marks in the mire.

He makes the deep boil like a pot. He makes the sea like a pot of wood. He leaves a shining weight behind him.

One would think the deep had white hair. On earth, there is nothing like him, which is made without fear.

He beholds every high thing. He is king over all the children of pride.

Then Job answered the Lord and said, I know you can do everything, and that no purpose of yours can be withheld from you.

You asked, who is this who hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what

I did not understand. Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak.

You said I will question you, and you shall answer me. I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you.

Therefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. And so it was, after the

Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, my wrath is aroused against you and your two friends.

You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. Now therefore take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant

Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering, and my servant Job shall pray for you.

And I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant

Job has. Then Eliphaz the Temanite, Bilbad the Shuite, and Zophar the

Naamanite went out and did as the Lord commanded them. For the Lord had accepted Job, and the

Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. And indeed the

Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. And all his brothers, all his sisters, and all who had been his acquaintance before, came to him and ate food with him in his house, and they consoled and comforted him.

For all the adversity that the Lord had brought upon him, each one gave him a piece of silver, and each a ring of gold.

Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning, for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, and one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys.

He also had seven sons and three daughters, and he called the name of the first,

Jemina, the name of the second, Keziah, and the name of the third, Kareem Habush.

In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job, and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.

After this Job lived a hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations.

So Job died old and full of days. Now I don't know about you, but one of the reasons why

I wanted to do that was it's just too much to stop reading.

In other words, you think about it, you talk about God demonstrating his power, his authority, his rule, and his, if you will, unquestionable will, and I don't know what takes my breath away to read that.

I mean, there's things in there that we could spend a lot of time speculating. Was he talking about dragons?

Was he talking about fire breathing dragons in there? Was he talking about crocodiles?

Was he talking about hippopotamuses? I mean, there's all kinds of thoughts that can go through this, and I'm not saying that we won't deal with it as we go through these last four chapters, but I did want us to think about this question.

Let me see, well it kind of went, I wasn't sure how long it would take just to read that, so let's deal with this for a few minutes.

Does God answer Job's question? Remember what

Job's question again is? Job's question is, God, why'd you do this to me? I've served you.

I've honored you. That was what he said in chapter 31. He said, listen, Lord, examine my life.

I didn't forsake the poor. I didn't abuse the innocents.

I didn't wander from my wife. I took care of everything.

No one that came to me who was in a bad situation didn't leave blessed.

And remember the constant thing that the friend, they just kept coming after him. No, no, no, no, you're a liar.

You're a liar. You're a hypocrite. You're this, you're that, the other thing. Does God answer his question in these last four chapters?

I used to think no. I used to think no, but it just hit me, God just showed he's sovereign, so that wouldn't relate.

Let's do this. How many people say yes?

I guess by math, I can tell where you two stand. Does he answer his question?

No. You say no. He answers it by making

Job answer it himself. He says in verse six, then the

Lord answered Job out of a whirlwind and said, now prepare yourself like a man. I will question you and you shall answer me.

I was kind of hoping, and it doesn't matter whether it's four, two, five, one. I was kind of hoping that we would get to a point where we'd have both yeses and noes.

That was what I was trying to get us to arrive at because a lot depends on how you see the book in totality.

That's why I read to you from the beginning that God says of Job at the very beginning, before anything takes place, that Job was upright and that he was blameless.

His friends make all the accusations for the opposite, right? And Job defends himself.

And in these last four chapters, does God, if you will, vindicate or uphold

Job? Now, you said that when you read this, and it's interesting, isn't it?

Just as a thought, it's interesting that God questions him twice too, if you think about it.

In chapter 40, he says, you stand up like a man. I'm going to question you. You're going to answer me. And Job answers him at the end of chapter 41, right?

And Job says, whoops, my bad. That's really a bad translation. But in a sense, that's what he's saying.

I should have just kept quiet. But then in chapter 42, God does the same thing all over again.

And there's a lot of thought that's gone into by some that have looked at this. Why does

God come a second time? And the second answer of Job, which is interesting, let's just do that.

Look what he says in chapter 40. Job answered, verse three, the

Lord and said, behold, I am vile. What shall I answer you?

I lay my hand over my mouth. Once I have spoken, but I will not answer.

Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further. And then God questions him.

And then chapter 42, Job answered the Lord and said, I know you can do everything in that no purpose of yours can be withheld from you.

You asked, who is this who hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore, I have uttered what

I do not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

Listen, please, and let me pass. You said, I will question you, and you shall answer me. Then he says this.

I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you.

Therefore, I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. So God questions him twice, and I don't know about you, and maybe we could spend a little time on this as we go forward.

It seems to me that there's a difference in the answer in chapter 40 than chapter 42.

I mean, not that it's not a humbling statement on the part of Job. I'm vile, and what shall

I answer you? And I said some things, but I won't answer anymore. But in chapter 42, to me, again, it almost seems as if there is an additional understanding that comes to Job.

And so Job, in his answer in chapter 42, is a deeper answer.

I'm going to say, I don't know if I want to do it right now, but I'm going to say,

I think God does answer Job's question, but I don't think he answers them the way we would expect to have it answered.

Because the expectation would be, God, why have you hunted me? That's really what he has been saying.

And if we were to think about does God answer that question, we could take that line and say, does

God say to him, yeah, Job, I hunted you, but here's the reason why.

I don't think he says that. Also, does God answer

Job's question? Well, when we get to chapter 42, it's really interesting, chapter 42, in that who gets admonished in chapter 42?

Is it Job? Does God say to Job, hey, you're wrong, you need to repent, you need to turn, and then

I will forgive you. And then if I forgive you, I will bless you. And it's interesting, and we'll see it in more detail.

At the end of the book, Job winds up with twice as much. In other words, he had, where is it?

In the beginning of the book, he had 7 ,000 sheep. Now he has 14 ,000 sheep.

In the beginning of the book, he had 3 ,000 camels. Now he has 6 ,000 camels. Same thing with the yoke of oxen, and same thing with the donkeys.

And basically, God doubled the portion for Job from the beginning to the end.

And here's what some people have said, that that in and of itself, it's got to be thought out, because remember, his friends have said all along throughout the whole book, if you do this,

God will do that. In other words, if you repent, Job, God will bless you. And then you come to chapter 42, and some people would say, see?

And therefore, his friends were right. Get what I'm trying to get at? In other words, they're right, and you repented, and therefore

God has blessed you. Is that really what God is doing in these final chapters?

I'm not so sure of that. I'm not so sure that, because that would almost give to me an understanding that his friends were right, and that even

Elihu, who told him to repent. Interesting, and I'm just making some remarks, just throwing things out for now, because we'll look at it in more detail.

Interesting that when God, in chapter 42, who does he call, if you will, who does he call on the carpet?

Eliphaz, Zophaz, and Bildad. Well, guess who's missing from admonishment?

Elihu. And is that because Elihu didn't follow that same line of accusation that Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophaz did?

Was Elihu, and remember we said this when we were reading through those chapters, it would appear as if Elihu had a higher way of speaking, and that he wasn't going to follow that tit -for -tat, back and forth, you're dead in sin, and you're wrong, and you deserve this, but he took it from a higher level and spoke more about God's loftiness.

So that's an interesting point. I'm not so sure that we can decide in absolute surety of whether God answers

Job's question, but I will say this, as we will look at it in further detail in the last couple of weeks,

I do think God, if you will, I'm trying to think how to say,

I do think that God holds to the fact of what he said in the beginning of the book, that Job was indeed an upright man and blameless before God, and that his friends are the ones that have been, if you will, have misspoken because it's basically very simple, right?

What he says, he says to them, to the three friends, in chapter 42 verse 8, you take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant

Job and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering and my servant Job shall pray for you.

Now, could you imagine, just something to think about, these three noble friends of Job have blasted him throughout the whole book, if you will, and now they gotta, and again,

I know this is not a good translation, they have to eat crow, but now they gotta come before Job and they gotta ask

Job to pray for them. What? So, they can't possibly be being spoken by God as if they were accurate spokesmen, because why would

God have them go sacrifice a burnt offering, which was an offering really for sin, and then ask

Job to forgive them? It must have been pretty humbling for those three dudes. I mean, and again, they're nobles and remember the scene,

I don't think this is done in a little small dark room, this is before a lot of people.

And now you get up and you go offer the sacrifice and you're gonna have to, in a sense, ask

Job to pray for you. And then, and that's what he says, it says, the

Lord, as the Lord commanded him, and for the Lord had accepted

Job, therefore he accepted Job's prayer. So, his wrath was, and that's exactly what it says, it says in chapter 42, his wrath was kindled against the two friends.

So, there's something to close out for this morning. We need to be very careful, not only what we think of other people, but what we say.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's not as easy to discern.

There are many things that are easy to discern, right? If someone walks in this morning and they can't stand up straight and they smell like a bottle of booze,

I mean, we're gonna take it as an understanding that they're drunk, right? And that's inaccurate,

I think fairly accurate. But if someone comes in this morning and they say something or they do something or we hear something about them, and it's not truly discernible,

I think we need to be careful, right? Because ultimately, who's the judge of all the earth?

God is. So, I hope that was okay to do. Like I said,

I really wanted just to read those chapters, and I hope you would agree, those are really lofty words, right?

He covered a lot of animals, by the way. And one of the things that's so intriguing, is so humbling, is what he says about how he feeds the animals and how he waters the deserted places where there is no one.

And just think about that. God takes care of his earth, and even when it's beyond the notice of man, it's not beyond the notice of God.

And God cares for his creation, and therefore we ought to care for God's creation.

So, again, there are many things, and we'll spend a little more time on each chapter, and I'll tell you what I think about the dragons and Godzilla and all this other stuff that's in the last couple of chapters.

I was almost going to tell you that my wife loves Godzilla. She likes

Godzilla. She takes Godzilla over King Kong every day. It's as simple as that, right?