JOB 33-42 GOD SPEAKS TO JOB2013 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Job 33-42 God Speaks To Job

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2013. We'll be looking at Job chapters 33 through 42 this evening. And as we get started, once again, I want to remind you the importance of understanding what we're talking about when we get to the poetic books.

The poetic books of the Bible are Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. And up to this point, we've been looking at more like historical books as we looked at all of the history that happened from creation all the way through the return of the children of Israel from Babylon after their captivity.

And we've been following the historical account, looking at all of the things that have happened. But now as we go into the poetic books, the point of these books is not to record history so much as it is to, well, to bring to light different aspects about God and people's relationship with God.

And so it's poetic in nature. Now, poetic, not that it rhymes. Hebrew poetry is a little bit different than what we would call poetry. But it's a poetic form that was, you know, familiar for them, which largely consists of contrasts of thought and different types of things like that. We'll see that more clearly in the book of Psalms and Proverbs than we have seen it in the book of Job.

But as we look at the poetic books, the important thing to remember as you look at each passage here in these books is the context in which that passage sits. Because the context of the passage is really the whole book and you have to consider the type and style of writing that it is in order to have an accurate interpretation and understanding of the passage. And so as we've been looking at the book of Job,

We've been pointing out that you can't really quote from Job's friends and think that that is something that God says. Because God clearly indicates that they were not speaking for him. And so some of the verses and some of the things that we'll read even tonight, we can see very clearly are not God's words. They're not eternal truth. They're...

accurately recording what was said but Elihu and the friends of Job are not accurately representing God

in all of these passages. And so you have to take into account and consider what is going on and who is speaking. Now as we get to the passages where God is speaking, well then there's not a question. Then you can know for sure this is what God says. But again, you have to consider the context and understand who is speaking and what is going on. And that will continue to be important as we head into the book of Psalms.

And so as you read each psalm, do your best to consider the context and understand what is going on, the type of song that it is, to understand how to interpret the verses and the songs that you're reading.

Well, as we look at the book of Job and finish that up this evening, once again, we do not know who the author is. It's been suggested that Job wrote the book, possibly Moses, but there's not real concrete evidence for either. We really do not know.

It's believed to be the oldest book in the Bible because of the type of Hebrew that it is. It's a very ancient type of Hebrew. And so it appears to be older than even the books of Moses because of the style of writing that was in it.

The time period that's covered, it's believed to happen around the time of the patriarchs. That would be Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, somewhere in that time frame. We don't know for sure exactly, but that's when it makes sense. And then the theme, of course, is the sufferings of Job.

In the book of Job, we really see the sovereignty of God playing out. And we've been contrasting the sovereignty of God in the book of Esther with the sovereignty of God in the book of Job. And in the book of Esther, we see God's sovereign in orchestrating all of these events and people in the right place at the right time to bring a great deliverance to the Jewish people. And that's exciting and it's beautiful to watch.

In the book of Job, however, we see a different kind of sovereignty where God is orchestrating and allowing for Satan to bring this great affliction upon Job and in Job's life.

And as I've been sharing, the sovereignty of God includes both aspects of deliverance and affliction. And as Job said in Job 2.10 to his wife, he said, Shall we indeed accept good from God and shall we not accept adversity? And so I think this is an essential book for us to understand the sovereignty of God and to be able to trust God and to know that He rules and He reigns on high in

In good or bad circumstances, whatever we might be facing, we can rest and know that God is on the throne. It is a difficult book though and some difficult concepts for us. And so once again, when I finish up the chapters for this evening, I'll give the opportunity for questions at the end. And so if you do have a question throughout our time together, write it down. And then at the end, you'll have an opportunity to bring that up and we'll discuss it as best we can.

But as we start the book of Job, let me just remind you about chapters 1 and 2. There in chapter 1 of Job, we're introduced to Job by God when Satan comes before God and God says, hey, where you been? He says, oh, you know, I was here and I was there looking for people to destroy. And God says, well, have you considered Job? He's righteous and he's blameless. He's upright. And, you know, he's outstanding as far as his relationship with me is concerned.

And Satan accuses Job and says, well, that's only because you protected him, God. And so let me at him and then he'll curse you. And so God gives Satan authority. He gives him some boundaries and he says, okay, you can touch his stuff. You can touch, you know, his houses, his children, but you can't touch Job himself.

And so there in Job chapter 1, Job loses everything. His kids die. His flocks and his herds are taken away. His buildings are destroyed. Everything is just wiped out in one day. Well then in chapter 2, Satan goes before the Lord again. And he says, hey, have you considered my servant Job? And Satan says, well...

Yeah, he hasn't cursed you to your face, but skin for skin. If you let me touch his body, he'll curse you to your face. And so God gives authority. He expands the boundary that was given to Satan. And now Satan has authority to touch Job and his health.

And so Job now breaks out in boils from head to toe. And so in the midst of all the great sorrow and all the loss, he also is added on to great agony and pain in what he is going through. And we see again here the sovereignty of God. God is setting the boundaries. He's setting the parameters and giving Satan the authority to work within those boundaries to bring these things upon Job.

Well, Job is then visited by three friends, and we saw the dialogue between them in the preceding chapters up to what we read this week. The friends were not really good friends because their basic emphasis and their message to Job was, you must have some kind of secret hidden sin. That's why God is doing this to you. So repent of that sin, whatever it might be, and then you'll be healed and restored.

But we understand from chapters 1 and 2 that if this wasn't the result of sin, that Job was experiencing these things, but it was as a result of his walk with God, and God allowing this and allowing Satan to do this in his life. So the three friends were way off base. They were completely wrong. They finished speaking now as we begin in chapter 33, and now we're hearing from a fourth person.

He's kind of a friend of a friend. He was a young guy that came along with the three friends. His name is Elihu. And he started speaking in chapter 32. He's a younger guy. And we can see some...

Well, some errors in his understanding and speaking as we read through, but he likes to talk. In fact, we saw last week in chapter 32, he spent the whole chapter talking about the fact that he wanted to talk before he actually said anything. And he's going to continue that for the next few verses here in chapter 33, talking about, hey, I have something to say without actually saying anything. But then he's going to speak for the next few chapters about

cover a wide variety of topics before God intervenes. And so let's begin our journey in Job chapter 33, verse 12 is the key verse. Elihu says, look, in this you are not righteous. I will answer you for God is greater than man. In verses 1 through 7, Elihu presents himself to Job as his spokesman.

He says in verse 1, please Job, hear my speech and listen to all my words. Then he says in verse 7, surely no fear of me will terrify you, nor will my hand be heavy on you. He says, Job, I'm not scary, right? So let me intercede between you and God. Let me speak on God's behalf to you. Let me talk to you for God. And so Elihu here is proclaiming that he is speaking for God.

God, but as you examine his words, you'll begin to question whether or not that is true. In verses 8 through 11, Elihu says, you spoke in my hearing, and he begins to quote some of the things that Job said. Now, as he is quoting Job, you see there in verse 9, he says that Job said, I am pure without transgression, I am innocent, and there is no iniquity in me.

And so he's saying, Job, this is what you said. But it's interesting to look back at the words of Job throughout the book of Job and try to identify which portion that Elihu is quoting here because there's not a direct quote in this. He's kind of interpreting what Job has said, but he's not saying exactly what Job actually said. David Guzik puts it this way.

He says,

Not that he had never sinned, that wasn't his claim, but that he dealt with his sin in the way that God had instructed him to. He also quotes Job or assumes to quote Job in verse 10.

He says that Job said, yet he finds occasion against me and counts me as an enemy. Now we do have a reference for that. Job chapter 13 verse 24 where Job speaking to God says, why do you hide your face and regard me as your enemy? So Elihu is kind of taking bits and pieces from here and there. Perhaps some of what the friends said and mistakenly thinking that they were quoting Job accurately. And he's...

Trying to then address what he thought he heard Job say in those dialogues that were going on. Well, then in verses 12 through 18, he explains that God speaks in one way or another.

In verse 15, he talks about a dream or a vision of the night and God whispering in man's ears. And then even in verses 19 through 30, he's talking about, you know, God speaking through other people, God speaking through afflictions and trials and the chastening of the Lord. All of this, he says, is God working to redeem man from the pit.

And so he says God works this way. He speaks in these various ways through dreams, through people, through chastening, trying to redeem man from the pit, trying to bring them back. Verse 30 he says to bring back his soul from the pit that he may be enlightened with the light of life. And so Elihu is saying that God is working this way in Job to bring him back from the pit. Then in verses 31 through 33 he talks about

That he wants to talk some more. He says, hold your peace and I will speak. Again, he likes to talk. He talks a lot. He doesn't say very much. Warren Wiersbe says this about Elihu. He says, like the three friends, Elihu had a great many facts in his mind, but very little truth in his heart. And that's something to keep in mind as you continue to consider the words of Elihu in Job chapter 34. Did I not have that on the screen the whole time? Oh, I did. Okay.

It's not showing on my phone. That's weird. All right, chapter 34. Verse 35 is the key verse. Job speaks without knowledge. His words are without wisdom. So Elihu now says, Job doesn't have any wisdom or knowledge. In verses 1 through 4, he says, hear my words, you wise men. He's talking about the fact that he's going to keep talking. So hear my words. Then in verses 5 through 9, Job said, I am righteous. And again, he's quoting Job saying,

Excuse me. But not exactly accurately. He says that Job said, I am righteous, but God has taken away my justice. In Job chapter 27 verse 2, Job does say, as God lives who has taken away my justice and the Almighty who has made my soul bitter. So again, he's taking kind of bits and pieces from here and there from some of the things that Job has said.

He also claims that Job said in verse 9 that it profits men nothing that he should delight in God. Which that clearly is not what Job said throughout his speakings in the chapters that we read. But again this is Elihu's interpretation of what Job had been speaking. Then in verses 10 through 15 Elihu says that God will never do wickedly.

So he says in verse 10, therefore listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do wickedness and from the Almighty to commit iniquity. I think here's something that we could agree with Elihu on. That God will not do wickedly. He is just. He is righteous. He is holy. In verse 11, Elihu says he repays man according to his work and makes man to find a reward according to his way.

Now, this is something that we talked about on Sunday, the repayment according to man's work. And as we talked about this on Sunday, I hope that you understand, we've mentioned it in the previous weeks as well. God will repay, justice will be done, righteous will be rewarded, and wickedness will be punished. But the mistake that Job's friends make

is they were expecting all of that to take place in this life. And the reality that we find is that the repayment for works, whether righteous or wicked, is ultimately fulfilled in eternity and not in this life. And so you cannot look at all of this life and make a determination there about righteousness or wickedness because eternity is where the real judgment will be fulfilled.

David Guzik puts it this way. He says,

God would not allow him to suffer affliction if he was righteous. That's mysterious. We don't understand that. That doesn't make sense to us. So God would never do that. That was the mindset of Job's three friends. But God does work mysteriously in the sense that he works, well, beyond our ways and that he says, my ways are not your ways. In fact, as high as the heavens are above the earth, that's how higher my ways are than your ways.

And so we need to understand that we can't have a concrete explanation for everything that God does. We're not going to. But that's what Job's friends thought. That's what Elihu thought. Saying God doesn't do wickedly. You're experiencing affliction. Therefore you must be wicked because God wouldn't do this or allow this in a righteous person's life.

But that's not the reality. Again, there's much more that happens behind the scenes and you have to bring eternity into the picture. Well, Elihu goes on in verses 16 through 30 and says that God sees all of man's steps.

He says in verse 19 that God is not partial to princes. He doesn't regard the rich more than the poor. They are all the work of his hands. He's pointing out Job just because you were wealthy doesn't mean that you could escape and do wickedness because you could you know buy off God with your riches or because you had such place of honor. In verse 22 he says there is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.

For he need not further consider a man that he should go before God in judgment. I think that's an important thing to consider. This aspect of God's character, Elihu does have right. That there's no shadow. That God can see all the things that are going on in a person's life. He sees all the things. There's nothing hidden from him. And he doesn't have to further consider a man before he judges him.

In other words, God doesn't have to look at Robert and say, okay, I need to bring some judgment and come to a conclusion about Robert's life. So let me take some time to evaluate his life and figure out, you know, what he needs, if he's righteous or wicked. God doesn't need to do that because he already knows everything. It's not that he needs to like go back and reevaluate the tapes or something and figure out, you know, what Robert's been up to. In the same way,

Elihu is saying God doesn't do that with any man. He doesn't need to further consider someone that he should then bring judgment upon him. In verse 29, Elihu says, When he gives quietness, who then can make trouble? And when he hides his face, who then can see him? Whether it is against a nation or a man alone.

And so Elihu's recognizing how big God is. When God brings quietness, nobody can bring trouble. When God brings trouble, nobody can bring quietness. Verses 31 through 33, he says, should he repay according to your terms? The idea here is in verse 32, where he's saying, teach me what I do not see. If I've done iniquity, I will do no more. He's saying, look Job, you're saying, show me my wickedness and I'll turn from it.

But should God repay according to your terms? And since you say, well, I'm going to repent of this and not continue in it, then God has to then, you know, stop bringing affliction upon you. Does he have to be bound to your schedule and according to your terms? Again, he's pointing out

His own youthfulness, I think. I used to give Elihu a lot more credit than I do today. You know, I've been reading the Bible in a year, for many years, and I always considered Elihu a little bit better than Job's friends. But I don't know if it's maybe I'm off this year, or maybe I have more insight this year, but I just see the youthfulness of Elihu in this. It just...

There's a lot of arrogance and assumption here that I think I tend to have as a younger person as well. And so we got to be really careful when we look at the words of Elihu because they are not really that accurate when it comes to the reality that we see in the book of Job. In verses 34 through 37, he goes on to say, Job speaks without wisdom. So again, he's accusing Job of great folly, speaking without knowledge, speaking without wisdom.

In verse 36 he says, Oh that Job were tried to the utmost because his answers are like those of wicked men.

And so clearly you can see his thoughts of Job are not really that good. God said of Job that he was righteous. Elihu says his answers are like those of wicked men. He says, oh, that Job were tried to the utmost. In other words, he hasn't been tried to the utmost yet. You know, there needs to be some more affliction so that then he has received the full correction that he needs or deserves. And so again, his perspective on Job is skewed.

and is not according to what God has said. Warren Wiersbe puts it this way. He says, That's what Elihu is saying in all of his much speaking in these chapters. Chapter 35, verse 13.

Surely God will not listen to empty talk, nor will the Almighty regard it. I don't think Elihu is talking about his own words, but maybe it's something to consider. Verses 1 through 8. What do you accomplish against God if you sin? So now Elihu is saying, look, if you sin against God, what do you accomplish against him? Or if you're righteous, what do you add to him?

He's saying, look, either way, God is fine without you. If you're wicked or if you're righteous, it really doesn't matter to God is what Elihu is saying. In verse 7, if you are righteous, what do you give him? Or what does he receive from your hand? As if, you know, God is benefited by your righteousness. Then he goes on to say in verses 9 through 16, Job opens his mouth in vain.

He says in verse 16, Job opens his mouth in vain. He multiplies words without knowledge. And so he's saying Job does not know what he's talking about. It's just empty words. Chapter 36, verse 26. Behold, God is great and we do not know him, nor can the number of his years be discovered. Now Elihu begins to focus a little bit more on the Lord and less on Job. And he says in verses 1 through 12 that God is mighty.

God is mighty. He says in verse 2, bear with me a little and I will show you that there are yet words to speak on God's behalf. He continues this pattern of talking about the fact that he wants to talk. And that continues to happen throughout his speeches. In verse 5 he says, behold God is mighty but despises no one. He is mighty in strength of understanding. In verse 6, he does not preserve the life of the wicked but gives justice to the oppressed.

But then he goes on in verses 13 through 15 to say that hypocrites store up wrath.

They don't cry out for help when he binds them, Elihu says. And so they store up wrath for themselves. And again, he's accusing Job here of hypocrisy and storing up this wrath for himself because God is mighty. Verses 16 through 20, Elihu explains, you are filled with the judgment due the wicked. In verse 16, he says, indeed, he would have brought you out of dire distress into a broad place where there is no restraint.

And what is set on your table would be full of richness. But you were filled with the judgment due the wicked. Judgment and justice take hold of you. And so again Elihu is accusing Job of this wickedness. Because he's experiencing what they consider to be the judgment due the wicked. David Guzik puts it this way. Elihu could not be clearer. There's one reason for Job's crisis and loss. It was that judgment and justice of God was against him.

It is helpful to remind ourselves that Job chapters 1 and 2 make it clear that Elihu is absolutely wrong in this analysis. The other friends of Job, as we've been looking at their words, we would stamp the word false across it because God says so in a sweeping statement that the friends did not represent him. But we also see Elihu is incorrect in the things that he is saying because he's not matching up with God's assessment of Job.

He's continuing the same type of reasoning and logic that the friends of Job were giving. And that is that Job must be wicked because he's experiencing all of this affliction. Then in verses 24 through 33, he goes on to say, God is great and we do not know him.

It's interesting. He's proclaiming that God is great. He's far above us. But then he's also saying, I can speak for God and tell you exactly what God's doing in this. It kind of shows a little bit of his ignorance and youthfulness there. Verse 26.

Verse 29. Now at this time, Elihu begins to talk about a storm.

And it is very possible that there's a storm that's actually beginning to happen around them. That they're seeing these clouds roll in. That perhaps there's some thunder and lightning going on. Because later on in chapter 38 when God begins to speak. It tells us that God speaks forth from the whirlwind.

And so as he's talking about the storm and the clouds here in verse 29, that there's probably actually a storm coming in and clouds and he's using what's actually happening to continue to fuel his speech and what he is talking about. And then it's from the midst of that storm that God is going to reveal himself to Job. Well, that brings us to chapter 37. Verse 14 is the key verse. He says, listen to this, O Job. Stand still and consider the wondrous works done.

In verses 1 through 13, he said, God thunders marvelingly with his voice. In verse 2, he says, hear attentively the thunder of his voice and the rumbling that comes from his mouth. Again, there's probably thunder and rumblings that are happening in the storm as he's sharing this. Then in verses 14 through 18, he says, consider the wondrous works of God.

He talks about the clouds. And Job, do you know how they're balanced? Do you know how this cycle works of the water and the clouds and how he brings rain? It's the wondrous works of God who is perfect in knowledge, he says in verse 16. Then he says in 19 through 24, with God is awesome majesty. In verse 20 he says, should he be told that I wish to speak? If a man were to speak, surely he would be swallowed up.

He says, even now men cannot look at the light when it is bright in the skies, when the wind has passed and cleared them. He's saying, look, the wind blows away the clouds. You can't look into the sun. It's too bright for you. How much more is God? He is far above us, is Elihu's point. He is far greater. We are much smaller. We can't even look into the lights of this earth.

Well, that brings us now to chapter 38. And here God interrupts and intervenes and begins to deal with Job and his friends. In verse 4, we have the key verse where God speaks to Job and says, Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. In verses 1 through 3, God says, I will question you. In verse 1, it says, Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,

He begins to speak to Job now. So Elihu's been going on and on for quite some time. And now God interrupts. With Job's friends, it was always the friend speaking and then Job would respond. Then another friend and then Job would respond. This time Job doesn't get a chance to respond to Elihu. God comes on the scene and he begins to address Job.

them at that point. Verse 3, God says, prepare yourself like a man. I will question you and you shall answer me. And he's going to go on and he's going to bring up some important questions to Job. Now, as you consider these next couple chapters, I would ask you to consider what tone do you hear God speaking with in these chapters? And be mindful of the

Is God angry as he is asking these questions? Or is he loving as he is asking these questions? We can bring a lot more that isn't there by the tone that we kind of imagine happening as God is bringing these things to Job. I would suggest to you that this is not a huge rebuke of anger against Job.

But this is a loving reminder from God about who he is to Job. To help him remember who he's dealing with and who God is. I like the way that David Guzik thinks about it. He says, we might imagine a small smile on the face of Job throughout this questioning.

Though it did appropriately humble him and bring him to repentance. Yet he smiled as a child who longs for his long gone father might smile upon his father's return. Even while being corrected, the child smiles because his father is here again.

Remember Job's complaint throughout the time is that, God, where are you in this? I haven't heard from you. I've walked with you, but now I don't hear from you. I don't know where you're at. And I don't know what's going on. Nobody's explaining to me why this is happening. Where are you, Lord? And so even though God is challenging Job, reminding Job of who he is, Guzik says, I imagine...

Job had a smile because, hey, even if God is bringing some correction here, he's here. I can hear him again. He's speaking to me once again. And maybe you're familiar with that, that time that God is ministering to you, he's speaking to you, and maybe it's not, you know, always exactly what you want to hear, but you can rejoice and you can take comfort in that God is here and he's speaking to you and he's correcting you, he's reminding you.

And we can understand that God loves us and He's with us even in the midst of great difficulty and even in the midst of correction. Well, verses 4 through 11, God talks about laying the foundations of the earth. In verse 4, He says, Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding.

To what, he says in verse 6, were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone? What were the foundations of the earth fastened to when it was laid? In verse 8 he says, Job. Job.

Where were you when I established the earth? When I set the boundaries for the raging sea, that their waves could go no farther. Where were you? Then he says in verses 12 through 18, have you commanded the morning? Job, have you told the morning to begin? Have you told the sun to rise? Have you set in motion the events that bring the dawn to its place?

Verse 16 he says, have you entered the springs of the sea? Now I love these rhetorical questions from the Lord. As I read through them, I don't know how Job felt exactly, but I just am reminded of my own littleness as I read through these things. I'm reminded of how big God is and how important it is that he is on the throne, that he rules and reigns. Because I cannot command the morning.

I can't make dawn happen. And that prevents me from being too consumed with myself. Sometimes we get way too consumed with ourselves. We forget who God is. What's really going on. He says, have you entered the springs of the sea? There's springs in the ocean. Have you entered into those? Have you explored the depths of the sea? We, although we've experienced great technological advances...

We haven't explored all of the depths of the sea. It's still just outside of our reach. We're not able to do it. I personally am not able to do it. It's beyond me. He says in verse 17, have the gates of death been revealed to you? Verse 18, have you comprehended the breath of the earth? Tell me if you know all this. He's talking to Job about his creation and

And Job is realizing he has not come near the creator. Verses 19 through 30, he says, Have you entered the snow treasury? Have you entered the treasury of snow? In verse 22, Have you seen the treasury of hail? Do you see the treasury where all the snow is stored before it's brought upon the earth? Can you cause, in verse 26, it to rain on land where there is no one? Think about that. God causes rain to fall on the land even when there's nobody there.

Job, can you do that? Do you do that? Do you control the cycle of rain? So that even where nobody is, the land is watered, the vegetation is produced. Verses 31 through 41, he says, can you bind the Pleiades? There in verse 31, he says, can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades or loose the belt of Orion? Talking about the constellations and the stars.

He says in verse 33, do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth? Think about the stars. Do you know their ordinances? Can you set them in their place? Again, with our technology, we've advanced greatly. We've explored and seen much of space. We know a lot about the stars. But we're still a long way from controlling them. From setting them in their place.

In verse 35 he says, Can you send out lightnings that they may go and say to you, Here we are. Can you hunt the prey for the lion or satisfy the appetite of the young lions? In verse 39. Can you provide for all the wild animals? Is that your job, Job? Is that your responsibility? Is that something you're capable of? Can you send out lightnings? He's reminding Job about who he is and about who Job is. Here's a quick look at the sky.

Just to kind of give you a little picture of what God is talking about here. He talks about the Pleiades and he talks about Orion's belt. Here on the left, you have the constellation known as Orion. Let's see if I can get the... I think I lost control. Alright. Oh, there you go. So, the three stars here, this is known as Orion's belt. And so he says, can you loose that? Can you separate those stars? Yes.

Can you, you know, remove them from their place? And then that little cluster over there, that's the Pleiades. And it's a cluster, it's a fascinating cluster of stars, seven or so stars, but that's a little bit debatable by scientists. But anyways, it's a cluster of stars. So can you loose that? Can you remove them? Can you separate them? Do you have control of that?

And it's interesting to consider. Just look up when you go outside and consider. Do you have control of that? Who are you really? Again, we get consumed with ourselves many times. But God wants us to remember that he is much, much bigger than we are. All right, chapter 39, verse 19 is the key verse. Here we go.

Have you given the horse strength? Have you clothed his neck with thunder? So God continues to question Job. Verses 1 through 8. Do you know when goats bear their young? Do you know when the goats are bearing their young, Job? Are you aware of when they're bringing forth young goats into the world? Verse 5, he says, Who set the wild donkey free? Who loosed the bonds of the oneger? Which is a type of wild donkey.

Are you the one who set the wild donkey free? Are you in control of that? Verses 9-18 he says, will the wild ox serve you? Will he bed by your manger? In verse 9 he asks. Will you be able to plow with him? In verse 10, will he plow valleys behind you? Then in verses 19-25 he says, have you given the horse strength? Is it your strength that the horses have? Have you clothed his neck with thunder? He says in verse 19.

It's interesting. You know, we measure things with horsepower. And we even, you know, harness maybe what we would consider horsepower. But we're not the ones who give the power to the horse. It's beyond us. Verse 26 through 31, he says, Does the hawk fly by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the south there in verse 26? Does the eagle mount up at your command in verse 27 and make its nest on high?

Are you in control of these things? Are you on the throne? And it's clear. The point is clear, right? God's not expecting Job to try to itemize all these things and answer each one. No, the point is, I'm God. I reign on high. You do not. Chapter 40, verse 15 is the key verse. He says, look now at Behemoth, which I made along with you. He eats grass like an ox.

In verses 1 through 5, we have Job answering the Lord. So Job gets an opportunity here to respond to the Lord. He says in verse 4, The word vile here, we kind of think of it associated with wickedness. But really in the Hebrew, it's more the idea of just emptiness. He's just basically saying,

what can I say? I don't have anything to say. I've tried to answer you. I've tried to speak. I've spoken before, but now as you're asking me all these things, I don't have nothing to say. What am I going to say? In verses 6 through 14, now God continues with some more questions. He says, have you an arm like God? Again in verse 7, he says, prepare yourself like a man. I will question you and you shall answer me.

Do you have an arm like God? He says, look, if you do, in verse 10, then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor and array yourself with glory and beauty. Then he says in verse 14, then I will confess to you that your own right hand can save you. Look, if you're like God, then array yourself with glory and do some things and then I'll confess to you, okay, you're right, you can save yourself. But if you can't array yourself in glory and splendor,

then you testify that you are not like God. Now God asked him to consider the behemoth in verses 15 through 24. He says in verse 15, Now look at the behemoth which I made along with you. He eats grass like an ox.

Now God's going to go on to give some different characteristics about this creature that he is describing here. Verse 17, he moves his tail like a cedar. The sinews of his thighs are tightly knit. Verse 18, his bones are like beans of bronze. His ribs like bars of iron. In verse 23, indeed the river may rage, yet he is not disturbed. He is confident though the Jordan gushes into his mouth. He's describing some type of large creature

some large animal. Now, there's a lot of discussion about what actual animal that he is describing and some suggest like a rhinoceros or an elephant, something like that. Others look at more like different types of dinosaurs and perhaps he's describing those kinds of dinosaurs. The dinosaurs, as you look at the description, do make a lot more sense than like a rhinoceros or an elephant. But,

The point is, he's describing this large animal and he's saying, I made him along with you. Now, if you can't compare to this big creature that I made along with you and you're fearful of him and he's much stronger than you, then how can you compare yourself to me? It's kind of the idea here that God's saying, look, there's another creature that I made along with you. It's much bigger, much more powerful, and you're much weaker than it.

Demonstrating how far apart God and Job actually are as far as their strength and power and capability. Well, he continues that line of thought in chapter 41, now talking about another creature called Leviathan. Verse 1 of 41 is a key verse. He says, can you draw out Leviathan with a hook or snare his tongue with a lion which you lower? So verses 1 through 11, can you draw out Leviathan?

Now again, he goes on to describe some different aspects, different characteristics of this creature as he talks to Job about it. Now again, there's lots of discussion about what this creature actually is. Many people suggest that God is describing here a crocodile.

And others suggest that he's again talking about some type of dinosaur, probably a sea type of dinosaur, like a serpent type of dinosaur creature that we have not seen around for a really long time. In verse 5 he says, Verse 7,

I like verse 8. Lay your hand on him. Remember the battle. Never do it again. He's describing the strength and the power of this creature. Verse 10 he says, no one is so fierce that he would dare stir him up. Who then is able to stand against me? You see the point that God is making here? Look, there's this incredibly powerful creature. You wouldn't dare go head to head with that creature. Nobody would.

So how do you compare against me? Who could stand up against me? In verses 12 through 17, he talks about the scales of Leviathan. His scales are his pride. That they're shuttly tied up as with a seal. That even air cannot come between them. In verses 18 through 21, he talks about his sneezings flashing forth light. He says in verse 21, his breath kindles coals and flame goes out of his mouth.

Then in verses 22 through 34, he says, when he raises up, the mighty are afraid. When he stands up, then the mighty are afraid. He says that they are beside themselves because of his crashings there in verse 25. Verse 26, when the sword reaches him, it cannot avail. He's not afraid of weapons.

His undersides in verse 30 are like sharp potsherds. He spreads pointed marks in the mire. On earth there is nothing like him which is made without fear.

I think as you look at this, it's clearly not a crocodile that God is describing here, but some other creature which we're not familiar with. Some people object to the idea of the flashing forth of fire. And I think there's another interesting case that you can consider. It's been often brought up from Job chapter 41.

But there's something called a bombardier beetle. I don't know if you've ever heard of that. But it looks like this. And this beetle is interesting because it has within it the capacity to shoot forth, not fire, but something a little bit like it. And so you can kind of see the inner workings here. It has actually hydrogen peroxide that it stores within it. And I don't understand fully the chemistry, but it combines some chemicals together to

Going from the green to then that brown chamber. And so it squirts the chemicals in there. And in there they're mixed together. It's combined together. It becomes incredibly hot. And then he's able to shoot out this explosive type of chemical. Which is incredibly hot. In fact it's actually 212 degrees or boiling temperature. And it's a defense mechanism. So that when the rat attacks...

I don't know if you can see it there at the bottom, but he shoots it out from his abdomen and it sprays upon his attacker so that he's able to defend himself. Now, this is the same idea that God could do. We don't know if this is exactly the case, but something like that where there's, you know, something happening, two chemicals mixed together and he's able to shoot forth fire from his lips, from his mouth.

and that's possibly something that's going on. But it's just an example to get an understanding like these kinds of things could exist in creation. Perhaps we haven't seen it, but that doesn't mean that it's never existed. Well, we finish up the book here in Job chapter 42. Verse 6 is the key verse. Therefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes is what Job says. In verses 1 through 6 he says, I repent in dust and ashes. Um...

In verse 3, Job says, And Job says, what we've been talking about really throughout the whole book.

Job was not proclaiming to speak on behalf of God. He was speaking out of the midst of his anguish, the bitterness of his soul. And now he says, I repent of that. I was talking about things I didn't know. I didn't understand what I was saying. I was speaking out of line because I was in great agony and great pain. But I repent of that. I turn from that. Again,

The affliction that Job experienced was not as a result of his sin. But in his speaking, he says, I was talking about things I didn't know about. I was challenging God in ways that I probably shouldn't have. And so I repent. I've seen you now. I realize, I remember how big you are, how small I am. And so he says, I repent in dust and ashes.

Spurgeon puts it this way. He says,

And I repent of that. Well then in verses 7 through 9 we see the Lord's wrath against Job's friends. God addresses Job's friends and says, hey you guys did not speak rightly of me like Job did. And so you need to repent. And you need to go to Job and ask him to pray for you and offer a sacrifice. And I will hear him. And they do that. And then in verses 10 through 17 we see that the Lord restores Job's losses.

In verse 10, it says, In verse 11, we see the reunion. Everybody who had fled from Job, all his friends and family, they come back to him now at this point as they see that God has blessed him once again. He's given double amounts of the herds and flocks that he once had.

He has another 10 kids. In verse 13 says he has seven sons and three daughters. That's the number of children that he had that were killed in chapter 1. And then in verse 16 it tells us, After this Job lived 140 years and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. So he lived a long time after that and got to see children and grandchildren up to four generations. And that concludes the book of Job.

Before we finish up this evening, do you have any questions or things that you want to bring up before we finish up our time together in the book of Job? Anybody? Robert. More like a statement. I was really excited to see Job finally get everything back. It's like I was looking forward to that part just as much as I was looking forward to God finding his peace, you know. And there is a lot of frailty in my own heart as I was reading, reminding me

Yeah. Yeah. Good.

Anybody else? Colleen? I was just reading at the end when I came upon how he mentions the girls' names a lot of times in the Bible. The knowledge of the boys' names will come out, but he might not actually be naming them. Any thoughts on why he would have acknowledged the three girls' names but only mentioned the sons? Yeah.

Yeah, that's a good thought. I don't have any specific answer, but it does seem that these three daughters were kind of renowned for their beauty and they stood out. And so I think it's just an indication of how God blessed Job. And so these three daughters really stood out and were different and unique. Well known, I think is the idea. Jake. Jake.

Yeah. Yeah.

Well, we do know, for example, in Revelation chapter 12, that Satan is likened to a dragon. So there is that parallel that is given in that way. So I understand how they could kind of draw that parallel. I would not say that God is strictly only speaking about Satan in chapter 41, but I would leave it open to the possibility that God is speaking

you know, talking about the creature and also intending to talk about Satan as a possibility. But there's no indication of that. In fact, you know, the thing that he's talking to Job or revealing to Job is this creature is much more fierce. Everybody's afraid of it. How then could you compare yourself to me? You know, he's another created being. So perhaps it's there, but it's not clear

Clearly there, that's for sure. So I would leave it in the realm of possibility, you know, but not any strong way. That's my thought. Good? Mm? Mm.

So in verse 2 of Job 38, when God first comes on the scene, his first words out of his mouth is, who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? And the question is, is God speaking to Elihu? Because Elihu's been rambling on for several chapters now and is he interrupting and saying, who is this Elihu and what is he talking about? And that's a possibility, but then when Job repents there in chapter 42, he says,

He says, you asked, who is this who hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore, I've uttered what I did not understand. So Job understood, you know, God was talking to him. It says in verse 1 that God was talking to Job. So it's possible God was meaning just in general, you know, who are all you guys talking about things you don't know. But Job took it personally and repented of it. So that's my thought on it. Good. Diane. Yeah.

He is saying he's getting his words from the Lord. He's saying he's speaking for God.

He's proclaiming that. I told you, youthfulness. Youthfulness. A parent. Yes. Right. I think we all do from time to time. Right, Elsa? Yeah. Anybody else? Final question? Final thought?

One last thing I want to just bring up as we close. And that is the point that I continue to make. And that is the reality of eternity in all of this. We love the end of the book where Job is restored his losses. He's given double. And I've heard it put this way, you know, that God allowed Job to go through all of this so then God could give him double. That's really a very limited...

at what was happening in Job's life. God wasn't doing all of this so he could give him more stuff. But you got to take into account eternity. And Job's reward for what he endured was not the doubling of all his possessions. The reward for what he endured will be in eternity.

That there's a bigger picture. And God deals with wickedness in eternity. He also rewards righteousness in eternity. And we need to be looking at eternity for the fulfillment of those things. And as kind of a little snippet of that, a little preview of that. I think it's really interesting there as it talks about Job being rewarded with double, twice as much as he had before.

And talks about the flocks and herds and lists the numbers and shows how they're all double. But isn't it interesting that when it came to his children, that wasn't doubled. He had 10 kids before, afterwards he had 10 more kids. So that wasn't doubled unless you consider eternity. Because if you consider eternity, then...

It was doubled because his other kids entering into eternity when they died, then now these 10 more, he ended up with 20 kids entering into eternity. And so it reminds me to consider and to keep in mind the scope of eternity, that that's the big picture. And a lot of things on this side of eternity aren't going to make sense and we're not going to have it all figured out.

We don't have all wisdom and all understanding and all knowledge. But God does work all things together for good to those who love him and are the called according to his purpose. We can hold on to that promise. We can rest in him. He does repay wickedness, but we don't always see the fulfillment of that repayment of wickedness or the reward for righteousness in this life. We will see it for sure in eternity, and that's what we need to be looking towards. Let's pray.

Lord, I pray that you would help us to see the big picture, to consider in our understanding the scope of eternity as we consider our lives, as we consider the lives of those around us. Lord, I pray that you would help us not to be like Job's friends ever at any time, not even a little bit.

Lord, that we would bring comfort and hope and help people to look towards eternity and understand that you rule and you reign on high. And so, Lord, our responsibility and our role is to love you and, Lord, to seek you and to pursue you with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Help us to do that.

And help us to help those around us to do that as well. Lord, that we might be in the center of your will and experience the fullness of what you have for us in this life and the reward in the life to come. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.