JOB 38-42 GOD HAS SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU2016 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Job 38-42 God Has Some Questions For You

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 2016. Well, this morning as we finish up the book of Job...

The title of the message is God Has Some Questions for You. As we've been reading throughout the book of Job, we've seen lots of questions directed to God by Job, and then Job is questioned by his friends, and his character and his integrity is questioned by his friends, and so there's lots of questions being thrown about. But here as we wrap up the book, in Job chapter 38, we see God comes on the scene.

Now, Job has experienced great loss, and we have some insight into why that happened in Job chapters 1 and 2, and we hit that a little bit last week as we kind of did an overview of the first half of the book of Job. And so we know what's going on. We know it's not Job's sin that has caused this devastation in his life. We know that it is not some punishment or correction by God, but Job

Although we know that, Job didn't know that, and Job's friends didn't know that. And so now as God shows up, you know, it's kind of the answer to the things that they've been dealing with. Except God doesn't really answer their questions. Instead, he asks questions of Job. And it's an interesting way for God to address Job as we look at this passage and the conclusion of this account here in the life of Job.

Now, as Elihu is speaking in the previous chapters leading up, he is talking about this storm, you know, that is coming. And so it seems like there's this really, you know, they can see this storm brewing and it's coming. And now the storm is here. And it tells us in verse 1 that the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind. And so as God shows up, the way that he shows up is in the midst of a storm.

And in some way, in some form, in some fashion, he's speaking with Job out of the whirlwind. And so, you know, when God spoke to Moses, he appeared in the form of a burning bush, right? And Moses went to check out the bush because the bush was on fire and yet it was not consumed. And so in my imagination, I'm picturing a storm, you know, a whirlwind, a tornado. And yet at the same time, you know,

Job is able to have a discussion with God in the midst of this. And so maybe it's a tornado without the wind, you know, perhaps it's a tornado where, or maybe he's in the eye of the storm, you know, and God's speaking to him that way. We don't know exactly, but there's this whirlwind, there's this storm, and it's clearly the presence of God, and God is speaking to Job. And as he begins to address Job, he says, who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now,

Now, we talked about the chapters of Job last week and how there's a bunch of nonsense. There's a bunch of things that are not really from God, not of God, not the truth as far as God was concerned with Job's life. And so he begins by challenging the counsel of Job and his friends. They were speaking things that they didn't know about. They were speaking things in ignorance. And

And so he says in verse 3, So enough questions, God says to Job. Now I'm going to ask the questions and you have to answer me.

Different scholars have looked at the book of Job and these chapters we're looking at today and have come up with around 60, some say 70 questions that God asks Job in these chapters. And so he gives, you know, just this onslaught of questions to Job and says, can you answer this? Can you do this? Do you have the knowledge? Do you have the power? How can you handle these things?

Now, last week we talked about the importance of expressing ourselves to God. And if we have questions, that it's okay to ask those questions to God and of God. If we have, you know, feelings of being overwhelmed or bitterness or not understanding, it's okay to express those things to God. God can handle the emotional cries that we have and those things that even though we know they may not be right, but that's how we feel.

God wants us to bring those things to him. But here's what we need to understand with that. And so as we look at this week, it's kind of the balance to that we looked at last week. And that is, you can ask God all the questions you want. And God invites you to come and ask questions and express, you know, where you don't understand and where it doesn't make sense to you and how you feel about that. But you also need to understand that ultimately you answer to God.

When God shows up, he's not going to say, okay, what was the first question you had? Okay, well, let me answer that question. And what was the next question you had? No, ultimately, when God shows up,

You answer to his questions. You answer to him, not the other way around. I like how David Guzik talks about this. He says, God is essentially saying, Job, if you can answer these things, then you are fit to question me. If you cannot answer these things, then you do not have a place to demand answers from me.

Job's question essentially was, why is God doing this? Why is God allowing this? Why am I suffering this way? What's really going on? And when God shows up, he doesn't answer Job's question. Instead, he asks Job a series of questions. And in a sense, he's saying, if you can answer these things,

If you can prove that you're at my level, that we can have an actual conversation about this, then we can have a discussion. But if you can't answer these things, then you have no place to demand answers from me. And that's the reality of our relationship with God. He is God and we are not. And so as we consider these questions that God poses to Job, we can also understand that God has these questions for us.

to recognize that we answer to Him and not the other way around. And so we're going to look at not 60 or 70 questions that God asked Job, but maybe six. Let's look at six questions that God asks of Job here in these next couple chapters. So the first question begins in chapter 38, verses 4 through 6, and that is, were you involved in earth's creation? He says in verse 4,

where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. So when God shows up, he says, all right, prepare yourself like a man. I'm going to ask you some questions. You're going to answer me. The first question is, where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? If you have understanding, if you think you have some wisdom, you think, you know, you're able to handle these kinds of things, okay, where were you

when I laid the foundations of the earth. God here is saying, look, I'm the creator. I created the heavens and the earth. Where were you while that was going on? Now, I think it's important to consider the tone that might be taking place as God is asking these questions of Job. I pointed out last week from Job chapter 42 that God corrects Job's friends, and he's clearly upset with them. He

says that there's wrath stored up for them for the foolishness and the way that they spoke. But God doesn't correct Job. In fact, he says of the friends, hey, you didn't speak rightly of me like Job did. And so I would say that as we look at these questions that God is asking, I wouldn't read an angry tone. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? I think God was gentle and loving. Even though it's a whirlwind,

God wasn't out to get Job. He was, I think, bringing some comfort to Job. You remember all the dialogue between Job and his friends, you know, 35 chapters of discussion. Not one bit of comfort was offered to Job. But as God shows up, I would suggest that God's presence here, and even these questions, are not just questions to challenge him and to help him, you know, see how little he is, but

but to know how big God is and to be able to rest and trust in God. And so I would read a softer tone into these questions. Hey, Job, where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Think about that. That God was challenging Job and comforting Job with these questions and not sharply rebuking him as we might think.

Again, Dave Guzik says, God's manner with Job in these chapters was marked by warm and loving fellowship more than harsh rebuke. And so there's a fellowship going on here. There's a warmness. Hey, where were you, Job, when I laid the foundations of the earth? Think about creation. Think about the world that you live on. Where were you when that began? Verse 5, who determined its measurements? Surely you know.

Or who stretched the line upon it? How did all the measurements come together? Who did that? Who did the design of the earth? Verse 6, to what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone? What establishes the earth? What does it rest on? What does it sit on? What's the foundations that it's fastened to? Now, you know, that's a long, complex answer, you know, if you're looking at it scientifically today. But

But the idea here is who established it? Who set it in place? Where were you when all that was going on? Verse 7, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy. Probably a reference here to the angels who sang and rejoiced and celebrated as God created. So Job, were you with the angels as they sang and shouted for joy?

While creation was going on, is that where you were? Where were you, Job, when all of this was taking place? It's the first question that God asks, and it's a good question for us to consider. Were you involved in earth's creation? And of course, the answer is no. We were not. None of us were, but God was. He's got the whole world in his hands, right? It's a good old song.

He's got the whole world in his hands. And that means that we can rest and trust in him. It means that you should trust God, but also that you should obey God because he is the creator and you will answer to him. Well, the next question that God asked Job is found also in chapter 38, but we'll jump down to verses 31 through 33. And that is, can you hold the stars in place?

Again, Job chapter 38, verse 31 says, can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades or loose the belt of Orion? Can you bring out Maserath in its season? Or can you guide the great bear with its cubs? Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth? So first God calls his attention to the earth. Where were you when all of this began? Now he calls his attention to the heavens.

And he says, can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades? Now, again, I would say, let's read into this a warm tone, a loving tone. Hey, Job, check out those stars. Are you able to bind the cluster of the Pleiades? Here in Job chapter 38,

Verse 31, he's calling his attention to the heavens and some very well-known groups of stars or constellation of stars. Now, as you look at this picture here, this is a picture of the night sky and the Pleiades are on the far right there. And this is a group of seven stars that are

Now, they are about 443 light years away. The stars that make up this cluster, most of them are 40 times brighter than our sun, and one of them is 1,000 times brighter than our sun.

brighter than our sun. And so it stands out. It's well known. It's easy to see. And so in Job's day, especially, you know, without all the lights and stuff that we have today, they knew the stars. They saw the stars. It was clear to them. And this was a well-known group of stars for them.

And God says, can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades? Now, one of the things that's unusual about this is these stars are very unique in that they're close together. It is a cluster of stars. It's not just, you know, stars that look like they're close together, but really they're far apart, you know, just away from us.

but these are actually stars that are close together, and, you know, they probably won't last that long. Scientists today say it only lasts that way probably another 250 million years, and then, you know, gravity's gonna pull them apart and stuff. But there's this cluster, right? And so it's unique. It caught people's attention, and God says, so can you hold them together? There's

gravity and all kinds of forces that are seeking to push them apart. But can you hold them together? Can you keep this group together? Now, you might say, well, of course I can. So let me just catch the next flight. It's 443 light years. And so when I'm 470 years old, I'll get there and I'll be able to keep them together. Of course, the obvious answer is no, I don't have any control over what happens with

He also asked, can you loose the belt of Orion? Now, I drew a quick connection of the dots here to show Orion here. And so Orion there is another famous constellation that God's making reference to. And the belt of Orion is those three stars in the middle. And God says, okay, that belt of Orion, can you loose that belt?

Can you separate those stars? Can you, you know, move them out from one another or take them apart? Now, one of these stars, the farthest or the brightest of the three stars actually, is 900 light years away. So quite a bit distance, twice as far as the Pleiades. So can you affect that star,

which is actually a combination of a couple stars. Can you affect that star 900 light years away? And of course, the answer is no. You have no control over what happens in the constellations. You're not able to affect that at all. In verse 32, he says, can you bring up Maserath in its season?

And Maserath is probably a way that God is referencing all of the constellations. And so, you know, the whole idea of, you know, the night sky. Can you bring out the constellations in their appropriate season? That's why he also talks about guiding the great bear, which is referring to another constellation in the stars. Verse 33. Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth? So can you change the course of the stars? Well,

Can you change the formation of constellations? Now, I mean, if you like think about practically what that would mean, you know, can you change orbits and rotations across the whole universe? Can you change gravitational pulls across the whole universe? Can you change these things? Do you have any impact? Do you have any power over these things at all? And so again, God says, where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth and

Can you hold stars in their place? Pointing out, making it obvious, making it clear as God asks these questions of Job, he's recognizing, I haven't been around very long. He's recognizing, I don't know everything. I don't have that much understanding. He's recognizing, I don't have very much power. As powerful as we might think we are, that we can be, or that we become, all we got to do is consider the stars for just a few moments and recognize, I can't hold the stars in place.

but God can. And because God can hold the stars in place, I should trust him and obey him. That's the point here. That's what God is driving towards. We have lots of questions. We have lots of, you know, things that we wonder about or things that we wonder, why did God do this or do that or allow this or allow that? Or why would God, you know, let that happen?

All kinds of questions about evil and suffering and those kinds of things in the world. But ultimately, we need to recognize that we answer to God. He has much more wisdom and understanding than we have. He's got infinitely more power than we have. This is also demonstrated by God's next question. In verses 34 and 35, we have question number three. And that is, can you command the weather? Verse 34 says...

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? He points Job's attention to the very storm that's going on, to the weather. Can you lift your voice to the clouds that an abundance of water may cover you? Hey Job, can you make it rain?

Now, as God asked Job if he can make it rain, he's not talking about it raining Benjamins, okay? He's not talking about throwing money in the air and letting it fall down. He's talking about the weather. So here's the weather forecast for the next few days. And I dare you to make it rain. Anybody want to volunteer for a day? Can you make it rain on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday? Can you make it rain? Chico's in the back starting his rain dance. You can't. That's the point.

You can't control the weather system. You can't control the clouds or the density of the clouds or the amount of water that's poured out.

You know, everybody's been freaking out over the past few months about, you know, the threat of El Nino, right? And we saw a little bit of rain, but nothing like what was expected. But there was all this concern. If it comes, you know, like it came in the last time El Nino hit, and it was like really strong, but it seems like it's going to be worse. And so there's all this preparation, get the sandbags and do all this, because, well, if we could control the weather, we could just hold back the rain.

Or we could bring the rain when we need it and keep it back when we don't want it. If we could command the weather, well, things would be quite different. But obviously the point is you can't command the weather. He says, can you send out lightnings? Are you the God Zeus? You know, you hold the lightning bolts and you throw them and they answer to you and say, hey, here I am. I'm your lightning bolt. What do you want me to do? Where do you want me to strike? Where do you want me to go? Can you command the lightning bolts?

God has a question for you. Do you control the weather? And of course, the answer is no, you don't. You can't control the weather. The other side of that is God can. And that's why you should trust him and obey him. You're going to answer to God. That's the point. God's not accountable to you. You are accountable to God. And he has the authority and the power to hold you accountable. He asks the questions, not us.

Well, he continues along this line of questioning as we move into chapter 39, verses 9 through 12 now. And here's the next question. Do the animals serve you? Do the animals serve you? Verse 9 of Job 39 says, 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 the valleys behind you?

God gives the wild ox as an example to Job. Now, he'd been talking about the donkey before, but as he points out this wild ox, I found it a little bit interesting because he's not talking about, you know, like the normal kind of cattle that we see around here, but he's talking about the wild ox.

there is some pretty monstrous cattle. Here's a quick look at this type of wild ox that God might be referring to here. This is called a gar, a G-A-U-R. And they can be up to almost 11 feet long and up to seven feet high at the shoulder. And so it's quite a monstrous animal, which weighs up to

3,300 pounds. So this is quite a monstrous animal. Now, there is actually a breed of wild ox that is now extinct, but was around in the 1600s that was very similar to this, but actually even a little bit bigger. And so most Bible commentators think that that is the animal that God was referring to there. Now, God's question here is, does this animal serve you?

Will the wild ox be willing to serve you? Will he bed by your manger? Now, another way to ask this question or to think about this question, God says, are you Aquaman? Remember Aquaman? I don't know if he's still around or prevalent in the cartoons or comic books. But I remember as a kid watching the Justice League and those cartoons, Aquaman was cool because he could control the dolphins. And he would send out the little beams, dee, dee, dee, dee, dee, whatever. And then all these animals would come to attack.

address the situation that was going on. Now, you know, it is interesting because we have some animal attractions in the world that we live in today, right? You can go to SeaWorld and you can see quite a few, you know, very well-trained animals. But at the same time,

They work really hard to train them, and yet there's still some wildness, right? And still there's some crazy freak things that happen as best as we try to train them. And we're really limited, right? So sure, you can gather together a few animals and work real hard to train them, but they don't flock to you. They don't actually bow before your authority. And as you talk about, you know, the wild animals, right?

They don't give you any regard at all, especially when they're this size. You know, you just like walk up to it and start telling it stuff to do. It's not going to respond. It's not going to hear you. In verse 12, he says, we trust him to bring home your grain and gather it in your threshing floor. So you say, okay, ox, there's the barn. Get all that grain, bring it in there. I'm going to go have dinner.

And then you come back and what are you going to find? You're not going to find that ox putting all of your grain in the barn. It's not going to work. You don't have that kind of authority. You're not able to command the animals. They don't serve you. Now he gives some other examples also. He talks about the donkey in the previous verses. He talks about the horse in the following verses.

He talks about the hawk in verse 26, does it fly by your wisdom? The eagle in verse 27. And then he talks about some really big animals in Job chapter 40 and 41. He talks about behemoth in

in Job chapter 40, which seems to be a description of some kind of dinosaur. And then in Job chapter 41, he talks about Leviathan, which seems to be some type of enormous sea creature or dinosaur. And so just to give you some examples of that in comparison to us,

Here's a human about six feet tall. And then you have a blue whale. You have the Tyrannosaurus on the far right. You have an elephant. You have another animal I don't know how to name. And then the Brachiosaurus there is the tall one. Now, the Brachiosaurus was a dinosaur, roughly guesstimated to be 40 to 50 feet tall and 50 tons, you know, very big, huge animal. And obviously compared to humans,

You know, we're pretty insignificant. Now, the way that God describes these animals, he says, you know, these animals exist alongside of you. Are you able to command them? Are you able to, you know, go have some fun with them and enjoy some time with them? Do they do what you say? Are you able, you know, to even fight with them and win? Listen, you can't even beat one animal. How can you compare yourself to me?

Again, the question is, do the animals serve you? And the obvious answer is no, they don't. But they do serve God. God does have authority over all of creation, over all the animals. And so you should trust him and you should obey him because you will answer to God. Well, moving on to question number five. Now we're going to Job chapter 40. The question is, will you correct God? Verse one says...

Moreover, the Lord answered Job and said, shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it. And so God, after he asks these series of questions in Job chapter 38 and 39, now it comes to chapter 40 and God says, okay, Job, did you want to correct me? Was there something that you wanted to say? Go ahead. Now it's your turn to speak. What do you have to say?

and Job has some pretty good wisdom here in verse 3. It says, God's question to Job is, hey, can you do all these things? Do you have this kind of power? Do you have this kind of knowledge and understanding? Now, what was it you were asking me again? What were the questions that you have? Would you like to correct me?

After you consider all these things? And Job says, you know what, Lord? I don't have anything to say. He says, behold, I am vile. Now, we think of vile as like something putrid, something like, eh, gross, right? But the word vile literally means to be light or of little account. It means to be light or to be little. Here's what Job says. I'm little. I'm little.

What's the song? He's big, I'm little, you know, whatever, VeggieTales. God's big, right? And that's the point of all the questions that God has been asking Job. He wasn't involved in creation, and Job didn't hold the stars in place, and he doesn't command the weather, and the animals don't serve him. But God, well, all of those things, God has authority over.

He was involved in creation. He is the creator. He does command the weather. He is able to do whatever he wants to do. And Job realizes his own littleness as he reflects on the questions that God has asked. And so he says, I lay my hand over my mouth. I'm small. I'm little. I'm small.

I'm not able to challenge you. I'm not able to rebuke you or correct you. In verse 5, he says, once I have spoken, but I will not answer yes twice, but I will proceed no further. Oh, Lord, I have asked some questions. I have, you know, challenged you a bit. I'm not going to make that mistake again. I'm not going to try to correct you.

Remember, as Job is going through the sufferings, he often would say things like, man, if only God was right here, and so then I could ask him, hey, what's going on, and what have I done, and why are you treating me this way? And again, it's okay for Job to have those feelings and to want to express those things to God. But when God appears to him, all of that is gone as he realizes God's big. And this isn't like, you know, you better not question me or I'm going to squish you kind of thing.

But as he recognizes how big God is and who God is and what God does, there's no need for the questions. He knows God's in control. We answer to God, not the other way around. Well, God continues in verse 6. It says, Again, he says, hey, get ready. Prepare yourself.

You don't have any questions? You're not trying to correct me? Okay, well, I'm going to ask you some more questions. And this is an important reality. We can ask God questions. He wants us to. He invites us to. You should express to God your feelings and your confusion and your hurt and bring those things to God, but also recognize ultimately you answer to God, not the other way around.

In verse 8, he says, would you indeed annul my judgment? Would you condemn me that you may be justified? This is an important verse to consider because the idea here of condemning God so that I could be justified is not something that we would do intentionally, right? Because we kind of know better. But it is kind of easy to slip into the mentality that, well, I know better than God, right?

Again, it's okay to have questions and to bring those questions to God, but sometimes when we question God, we don't question God with, you know, the heart of, I don't understand, and, you know, I want to understand. Sometimes we question God with the heart of arrogance, saying, God, if you knew what I know, then you would do it this way.

It's okay to lack an understanding. It's fine to express that you don't understand, but it's dangerous to have the heart, to have the idea that you could do things better than God. And there are people who are convinced that they are wiser than God. And so they would condemn God that they would be justified. Let me prove to God, let me show you, God, that I'm right. But in order for me to prove that I'm right, I have to declare that God is wrong. And that is

Well, that is a dangerous heart to have. People are convinced that they're more fair than God. You know, we look at things that happen in this life, we go, think that that's not fair. How could God allow that? Why would God let that happen?

Or God, why won't you act? Why won't you do this? Why won't you do that? I mean, I work just as hard as they do. How come they're getting rewarded and I'm not getting rewarded? How come I'm suffering while they're doing well and I'm believing in you and they don't even regard you? They are rebellious against you and yet how come they're doing well? It's not fair. And in that, again, it's okay to express those things to God, but we also need to be careful that we don't develop this heart of bitterness where we think that we've

Have a better understanding of what's fair than God does. Would you condemn God that you would be justified? Would you declare, hey, I'm more righteous than God. I know how to do it better than God does. Sometimes we develop that heart. And so it's good for God to ask us these questions. But as he asks us the questions, like he asked Job, it should bring us to a recognition of our own littleness. Will you correct God?

You think you can do anything better than God does? You think you could arrange your life better than God has arranged it? Maybe you think you could arrange your family better. You know, if only God would just give me control, let me do what I want, then I would have, you know, my spouse would be like this, and they would do that, and they would do that, and they would never do that. My kids would be like this. I would have this. I would have that. Man, if I could arrange my life, I could do it so much better. Will you correct God?

And say the life that you have is not the life that you're supposed to have? Recognize your own littleness. Where were you when the Lord laid the foundation of the earth? Were you involved in creation? Can you hold the stars in their place? Can you command the weather? Do the animals serve you? Remember who you are. Remember, you are vile. You're little. And God is big. He knows what is right. His ways are perfect.

God's ways are perfect. There is not one thing that God does that could be done better. Think about that for just a moment. There's not one thing that God does that could be done better. And what that should do for us is cause us to trust him and obey him. Will you correct God? Sure, you could try. God has all wisdom and all knowledge. He knows what's best. He does what's best. You should trust him.

You should submit your life to him. You should obey him. You should follow his word because you're going to answer to God. You're going to stand before him and you're not going to be able to correct him. Even this experience that Job has, as overwhelming as I'm sure it was, this experience that Job has is lesser than what it will be like ultimately when we stand before God.

When we stand in the presence of God, this storm and the whirlwind and God speaking to Job, that was a limited, a lesser experience than actually being in eternity in the presence of God. And as Job is there in this smaller experience, he has no more words. He has no more correction, nothing to say to God, and neither will we. We don't deserve God's answers. We can't demand God answer to us or that he do things our way.

His ways are best. And what the conversation will be like when we stand before God is not, God, you need to answer all these questions that I have. You need to explain why this and that, why that and this. But God asking us, hey, what did you do with what I gave you? What did you do with all that I shared with you, with all that I spoke to you? You're going to answer to God and not the other way around.

Well, the final question we'll look at continues here in Job chapter 40, verses 9 through 14. Verse 9 says, have you an arm like God, or can you thunder with a voice like his? Here in these next few verses, God's going to be asking Job, can you save yourself? And he starts out saying, do you have an arm like God? Now, this is a reference to the strength of God and the power of God. Do you have power like God has power? Can you thunder with a voice like his?

How do you compare to God? He says, look, if you do, if you've got power, if you can thunder with a voice like God's voice, verse 10, then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor and array yourself with glory and beauty. All right, you think you're all that? You think you're hot stuff? You got a lot of power? You can do a lot? Okay, let's see it. Adorn yourself with majesty and splendor. Go ahead, right now. Remember what Jesus said? Jesus said, you can't even make one hair white or black.

For some of you, that's torturous. You know, you wish you could. It'd save you the money for the dye that you have to keep on trying to pretend it's a different color, right? You can't adorn yourself with majesty and splendor. Now, some of us just give up and, you know, cut it all off. I'm not saying that's the better way. It's just we're not pretending, okay? That's all I'm saying. Array yourself with glory and beauty if you can. Go for it. Go ahead. Why don't you? Let's see it. If you have an arm like God.

Now, obviously, you don't. You can't. Verse 11, All right, so you've got a lot of power. Why don't you deal with the pride of people? Why don't you bring some humility on the proud people? Verse 12,

Why don't you deal with all of those who are full of pride, who have puffed themselves up, bring them down low, bind their faces in the darkness. I was thinking about this passage as I've been hearing about all the debates and contentions and the back and forth between the presidential candidates. Can you bring down the pride of all the presidential candidates? Can you just deal with them and just bring them all down, bind their faces in hidden darkness? Can you do that? Would you please?

You don't have the power. You don't have the authority to deal with the pride of other people. In fact, so many times we don't even recognize the pride in our own selves. But God says, look, okay, if you could do that, verse 14, then I will also confess to you that your own right hand can save you. And here's really the bottom line. So if you have all this power, if you have majesty and you can adorn yourself and you can deal with the pride of people, God says, okay, then I'll confess to you

you can save yourself. But if you can't, if you don't have that kind of power, if you can't adorn yourself with majesty and splendor, then here's what you need to recognize. You need saving. You're not the savior. Can you save yourself? The answer is no. God is the only one who can save you. So you should trust him and obey him because you're going to answer to God. God has some questions for us. And when we stand before God,

He's not going to be answering our questions. Not that our questions won't be answered. Not that we won't have understanding. We need to recognize the reality that God is God and that we are very little. We're not the creator and we don't have the control of the stars or the weather and the animals don't serve us. So we have no place to correct God.

We're completely unable. We're totally out of our league and even trying to attempt to correct God. The scriptures tell us that God's ways are higher than our ways, as high as the heavens are above the earth. And so there is going to be a lot of areas that we don't understand. There's going to be a lot of things that happen that we don't get, just like Job didn't get what was going on. He didn't understand. That was appropriate. He wasn't supposed to understand. God didn't tell him why.

Now, it's interesting to understand, even as God shows up here at the end, now he doesn't tell Job why. The only reason why we know what's really happening with Job is because the Holy Spirit recorded it for us in chapters one and two of the book of Job. But Job didn't know what was going on. He didn't know the situation. It was appropriate for him to not understand because God's ways are much bigger than our ways. There's lots that we don't get today.

about who God is and what God does. But I like what J.B. Phillips says about that. He says, if God was small enough for us to figure out, he wouldn't be big enough for us to worship. If we could figure out God, if we could understand everything that God understands, if we could have the strength that God has, he would be little like us. He wouldn't be worthy of our worship. God is great. He is the creator.

He offers no answers to Job's questions because Job answers to God, not the other way around. Now, again, let me just remind you and just say the tone as God is asking these questions, I don't think is God sharply rebuking Job, but gently challenging him. Were you involved in earth's creation? Where were you?

As the angels rejoiced and sang while the foundations of the earth were established. Can you hold the stars in their place, Job? Who can? Oh, you can, God. That's the truth. Can you command the weather? No, but God can. Do the animals serve you? No, but they serve the Lord. God reigns over all. And so I have no place in correcting God. No capacity because I can't save myself.

I need a savior. I need a redeemer. I need for God to save me. The scriptures tell us that every knee will bow before God. And as we recognize the greatness of God in our own littleness, the appropriate thing is for us to bow right now, for us to submit to God and receive the salvation that God offers right now, to live in obedience to God right now.

But if we refuse and if we insist, no, I can do it better. I do have more understanding. I can handle things better than recognize as we stand before God in eternity, we'll still bow before him. That's the reality. Every knee will bow. And Job responds in chapter 42 to this, you know, second line of questioning as God talks about behemoth and Leviathan and

And he says in Job chapter 42, verse 5, he says, This is the appropriate place for us to recognize who we are and to repent in dust and ashes, to submit ourselves to God. So many times,

We think we know better. We think we can get away with sin. We think we can handle things on our own. We try to live life outside of the boundaries of what God has set. And God says, you're going to answer to me. Who do you think you are? Where were you when I created the heavens and the earth? Can you save yourself? If you can't save yourself, understand you need a savior. And God has provided himself. There is no other savior. We must come. Submitting our life to him.

trusting in him and living in obedience to what he has declared. We're going to close the service now in a time of prayer as we usually do. And so I'll begin. And then afterwards, as you feel led, be bold and you can pray before God for the service that's coming up or for something else that's on your heart. But after a few minutes, when the time's right, Richard will close us. But let's take this time and consider who we are as we call out to the Lord. Heavenly Father,

Lord, as you ask these questions of Job, it helps us also to understand and consider how big you are, how awesome you are, how powerful you are, how wise you are. And Lord, we recognize our own littleness as we stand before you, as we sit before you. And yet at the same time, as big as you are, as awesome as you are, as holy as you are, you're high above and set apart, and yet you humble yourself and

to meet with us. And Lord, you desire for us to be in your presence. You desire to have that closeness with us. Lord, I pray that you would forgive us for all of our pride and all the areas where we think we know better, where we think we can do it better, where we disregard what you say. Lord, I pray that you would bring that gentle correction to us, Lord, as we consider these questions and reflect on who you are.

And Lord, I pray that you would bring us into full submission to you. Help us to recognize, God, any area where we're out of line, any area, Lord, where our heart's wrong, our mind's wrong, our actions are wrong. Lord, reveal these things that we might be able to repent in dust and ashes, to humble ourselves before you, to confess the reality of how little we are. And Lord, I pray that you would help us to fully surrender and submit to you.

And Lord, it's in that that we find comfort. It's in that presence, Lord, your presence, your love. As we humble ourselves, Lord, you fill us, you surround us. And that's the only way for us to find comfort and peace in this life. Help us, Lord, to humble ourselves and place ourselves in your hand, trusting in you and walking in obedience to your word. In Jesus' name I pray.

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.