Job, I Will Question You

[0:00] I sang that hymn for years and years and years and barely paid attention to the words, thinking, oh, we're just asking sinners to come.

[0:14] And if you know Christ, that's a sweet hymn. It speaks of how he still met all your needs.

[0:27] So praise the Lord for that. You can be turning to the book of Job chapter 38, Job 38. And some of you are finally saying, we made it.

[0:48] And it is good that we've made it. I've been so good for the whole trip. I'm so glad for the whole trip. I've read Job 38 to 41 many times in my life.

[1:07] And I've always enjoyed it. It's always been good. Now I see the goodness of the Lord in a much bigger way, much better way.

[1:18] Because we've watched Job struggle in ways and pour his heart out in ways and step over lines. And God be gracious to send a man saying, Job, you've stepped over the line.

[1:31] And you can't talk to God like that. And I really worried a little bit when I began studying 38.

[1:43] I thought, how is it going to look like God is comforting Job? And it's here. And it's good.

[1:54] And we'll look at that in just a moment. Usually I read a section of Job. And because we deal with so much poetry, I tend then to give you an overview of a section and not read it.

[2:13] And just pass through big chapters that way. I don't feel comfortable doing that as we get to 38.

[2:26] It's all God's word. And we can't treat it any different. But as we hear God speak, I thought, we've got to hear God speak here. And so we're going to look at, read through all this, not at once.

[2:42] We'll read through it in sections. But I would like to read the first three verses before we begin. Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

[3:04] Dress for action like a man. I will question you. And you make it known to me. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for your word.

[3:17] And I thank you for you. We feel for Job and what he went through. And that's fine and good. But Lord, today we'll be able to rejoice more in a God who meets needs.

[3:36] Because of what Job went through. And I'm convinced that someday in heaven, whether we'll remember our trials or won't remember our trials, if we do, we'll be able and perfectly willing to say, because of what I went through, God is seen as sweeter and better than I could ever have imagined.

[3:59] I pray that you would be with us today. I pray that you would be with me. Help me to be able to speak clearly and concisely.

[4:10] I pray that your word would shine forth and what you say would shine forth and that we would understand it and we would grow by it. And I pray your blessing in Jesus' name.

[4:22] Amen. Amen. But a little bit of recap I will do. We've been watching Job go through this trial. And I've rehearsed that many times to you.

[4:35] It's a trial to show God's glory. To prove to the accuser that Job serves God for who he is and not what God gives him. We have deduced, at least it is my opinion, that Job has at this point suffered for months.

[4:53] We don't know how many. We don't know exactly, you know, the details of that. But it appears that he has suffered for months. And it is agonizing. It has been, he wished he would die because of his suffering.

[5:06] In the midst of his suffering, he became so focused on himself and so he defended himself so long and saying, I'm not enduring this because of my sin.

[5:20] And it was true. He wasn't enduring it because of his sin. But he had been focused on that so long that Job began to cross the line and say, God, you're not fair. I want to talk to you about this.

[5:33] I want to discuss this with you. If I could talk with you, we could straighten this matter out. And by saying those things, he's inferring that God has been unjust. And we talked last time, the last two times about Elihu.

[5:46] That man that I thought was bad, but I'm pretty well convinced is good. But I leave room for many good men who believe that he was still a scoundrel. But I believe he was sent by God to say, Job, you've crossed the line.

[6:01] He was like that Galatians 6.1 person. And Paul says he watches for someone and goes and snatches him back, lest he be overtaken in a fault. And Elihu begins to proclaim God's majesty in chapter 37.

[6:16] Actually, a little bit in 36. But in chapter 37, he begins to point out how good God is and how God does deal justly and how he does deal fairly. And he ends that speech.

[6:31] And it's almost as if he's building and he's building and he's building and he's building and he's taking the steps towards where he's going to go.

[6:41] And then he just stops. And the next step is not Elihu's, but God's. Where God steps in and says, now let me take over this argument. Now, I don't mean to make God sound small by saying that.

[6:54] But we go in the same sort of mindset. But here God comes to present his case. And he'll present it through chapter 38 and through almost all of chapter 39.

[7:12] A couple things we'll deal with at the end. But God will present his case. It says what we've already read in verses 1 through 3. Then the Lord answered Job. Then the Lord answered Job.

[7:26] This is what Job has been wanting for months. Just to say what's going on. Just to be able to speak before God. And here is God. He steps out.

[7:38] And there is God. And he answered Job. In Job 31, 35. Job cried out for God to answer him. And now he does.

[7:50] Oh, that I had one to hear me. This is what Job actually said. Oh, that I had one to hear me. Here's my signature. Let the Almighty answer me. Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary.

[8:03] And at this point he's calling. Well, he might be hinting that God is his adversary here. I won't say that he is. But God answers his prayer.

[8:14] He answers Job's request. Now, God doesn't always do this. But God has put Job in a unique situation. He's put Job in trials that probably none but one other man in the entire universe has ever seen.

[8:30] And of course, that's Christ. And his were much worse. And God had Job go through this for his own glory's sake and for our benefit.

[8:41] And so in this instance, for our sake and for Job's sake, God steps on the scene and he answers Job. And it says that God spoke out of a whirlwind.

[8:53] The Lord answered Job out of a whirlwind. What's the whirlwind that's talking about? Now, the whirlwind can be the regular typical storm.

[9:03] You know, whether it be, you know, just a violent thunderstorm or you could think of a tornado. The word is used for that. But the whirlwind appears in connection with the Lord's appearing in seven places in scripture, I think it is.

[9:20] And it always speaks of a supernatural storm that displayed the supernatural strength and might and power of God. I'll read two examples.

[9:32] Two examples. Isaiah 29, 5 through 8. But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like small dust and the multitude of the ruthless shall passing like passing chaff.

[9:43] And in an instant, suddenly, you will be visited by the Lord of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a devouring fire.

[9:54] And the multitude of the nations that fight against Aria, all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her, shall be like a dream, a vision in the night. As when a hungry man dreams and behold he is eating and wakes with his hunger not satisfied.

[10:09] Or as when a thirsty man dreams and behold he is drinking and awakes faint and his thirst is not quenched. So shall the multitude of the nations be that fight against Mount Zion.

[10:20] And this picture being that someone's bothering Israel and God will appear. And he doesn't just appear in just some little vision. He appears in this storm.

[10:31] And he comes on the scene. And when he comes he has this great majesty of the thunder and the lightning. And in that majesty he destroys Israel's enemies.

[10:42] And it's like, did they ever really exist? Poof, they're gone. God is so majestic and powerful. Jeremiah 23, 18-20 also has that kind of theme.

[10:54] It says, For who among them has stood in the counsel of the Lord to see and to hear his word? Or who has paid attention to his word and listened? Behold the storm of the Lord.

[11:05] Wrath has gone forth. A whirling tempest. It will burst upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not turn back. Until he has executed and accomplished the intents of his heart.

[11:17] In the latter days you will understand it clearly. This word here is speaking about a whirlwind. And God is speaking to Job in a stormy demonstration of the awesome power and might of God.

[11:32] You might think of the scene at Mount Sinai, which is another one of these, where God gave the Ten Commandments. Now the two that we read, God was against his enemies and was going to deal with his enemies and he was exhibiting his great power.

[11:46] But here and in Exodus we find the kind of demonstration where God is simply revealing to his people that he's not this puny little voice that commands no power.

[11:57] He appears on the mountain and the mountain smoked and quaked and there were great peals of thunder and lightning and fire consumed the mountain and yet it was not burnt. And the people beholding that were afraid and wanted to draw back.

[12:12] And as God spoke from that kind of situation, they said to Moses, we don't want to hear God's voice anymore. We want you to speak to us. This terrifies us.

[12:23] And so this is the kind of picture that we have. Here God appears and is going to speak to Job out of the whirlwind.

[12:34] Now, in our own minds, if we would only think in human reason, and we had read through the book of Job, we'd say, ah, God's going to do it now.

[12:47] Look, he's appearing in thunder and lightning and one of those bolts that he said would hide his hand. He's going to throw it down at Job and Job's going to be just destroyed because, boy, he's been pretty disrespectful.

[13:01] But that's not at all what's going to happen. God appears in this majesty and this power for Job's sake. So that Job saw that God was not out of control.

[13:17] He was in control. That he was not puny. He is the great God of the universe. And so he appears to Job in the whirlwind and speaks to him.

[13:29] God's not hiding his presence. He's speaking from what we call a theophany that demonstrates that God is a God of power and might. I want to point this out.

[13:42] I've said it, but I'm going to point it out on this side note. I want you to notice that God has graciously answered Job's request. Now, I've put it in the midst of the situation that this whole book is explaining suffering and God is using it to teach people.

[14:01] And it's a picture of our suffering Savior that the righteous can suffer. And those are all good. But I want you to see, because we too often could easily turn on Job and think, ah, you're getting your just desserts.

[14:14] But I want you to think of this appearance also as God answering Job's request. He wanted that God would come before him.

[14:28] And God did it. He didn't come before Job just long enough to strike him dead. He appears before him.

[14:38] And he asks him a question. Job gets a little bit of time to answer. And then God speaks. And it's not words of destruction.

[14:50] It's words of instruction. It's not words of cursing. It's words of correction. And so God has been very merciful. And given Job a better view of God than Job had been developing.

[15:07] God corrected Job's thinking. And so God comes before Job to correct him. And another side note, before we look at what God says, I want you to notice what is not in this passage.

[15:27] Remember just three chapters ago? No, six chapters ago. Job throws down this gauntlet almost. And says, okay, I'm going to use my last legal card.

[15:41] And I'm going to say, look, I'm being judged for the wrong reason. I'm innocent. And he says, and he lists off, I don't remember now how many, but I think it's 12.

[15:54] The number varies according to different people. But I think it's 12 different areas. He says, if I am guilty of this, then let this happen. And God appears on the scene.

[16:05] And what does not happen, it does not happen that God appears with a piece of paper and says, Job, you remember back a few chapters? You know, whether God spoke about chapters. But you remember back a few chapters, you said, if this is, if I'm guilty of this, let this happen.

[16:21] Well, I brought a list. And I'm going to talk to you about that list. That doesn't happen here. God does not come before Job to list the sins that Job was indeed guilty of.

[16:39] God, in his speech, doesn't accuse Job of any sin that brought this suffering on him.

[16:50] There is a sense that as God comes, he's convicting Job of this way he has spoken wrong. In fact, it's not just a sense.

[17:01] It's what's happening. But God doesn't bring his past sins. Now, the list that Job had, he didn't do. He doesn't even reach back to other things.

[17:14] Yeah, Job, you made this list. But you really missed all the ones that you were truly guilty of. And let me bring these up at this time. And that's not what God does. And so, God speaks to Job and says, who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

[17:33] So God directs his speech directly at Job. What an awesome. You're here and all this and all this. And God leans over and says, who is this that darkens speech without knowledge?

[17:49] It's Job. Now, you could say that it was the three friends, but God's not addressing the three friends. He's not talking about their retributive justice that they were trying to preach.

[18:03] God's dealing with Job. God's dealing with the ways Job had stepped over the line. Job had begun to accuse God of not being there to vindicate him.

[18:16] In a sense, Job has been saying that God has not acted justly. And so God's here to say, wait a minute. Who has this been arcing counsel by words without knowledge?

[18:31] Job should have known better. It's interesting as we get into God's argument, which we'll get into in just a second. The things that God questions Job on are matters that people could have pondered in that day and come to the same basic understanding.

[18:56] God uses natural revelation things to point out to Job where he's been wrong. And so here is God.

[19:08] He appears on the scene. He says, who's been speaking like this to me? He's looking at Job. And God's going to answer those things. Job should have known better. And that's why I was getting at it. He uses the natural things.

[19:20] Job should have been able to look around and say, hmm, this is a pretty amazing creation. There must be a creator. And of course he knew that. And that creator must be absolutely powerful.

[19:31] And that absolutely powerful creator must be absolutely just. Job should have made all these distinctions. He should have thought through these things. And so that's why God's saying, why, who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

[19:44] And so God calls Job to prepare that he might answer like a man. And the idea being, you hear it in the Old Testament a lot, a little bit in the New Testament, where they would gird up their loins.

[20:00] And that's what's the idea. They often wore these robes that were long. And if you had to run or if you were out plowing or running a sigh to gather the wheat, your clothes would be in the way.

[20:15] And so there were various methods. And whatever they would do, somehow they would hike that up and tie it around with a belt. And that would keep their clothes up mid-thigh so that they could run and they could work.

[20:29] And here God is saying, I want you to get ready. You've got some explaining to do. You need to be prepared to answer me. So Job has been calling God to action, but now God is calling Job to action.

[20:47] God will call Job to answer why he thought he was in a better place to discern what God should have done than God was. And so God will lay out before Job 16 different areas in which God rules by his mighty power and challenges Job to explain or be able to provide as God does in all these areas.

[21:16] So we're going to look through these. I've divided a few of them up into categories. And we're not going to make a lot of... You're probably saying, wow, he's already... Got a lot of scripture to cover.

[21:30] But we're going to read through it quickly. And make comment as you go. The first set of section is verses 4 through 11. God basically asks Job, do you know how creation was set out?

[21:45] And we talk about that sometimes. We think about creation. Think about some of the things of creation. We'll read what's said here. And it amazes us. But do you know how creation was set out?

[21:57] Let's read verses 4 to 11. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?

[22:07] Tell me if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know. Or who stretched the line upon it?

[22:18] Or what were its basis... On what were its basis sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone? When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy.

[22:32] Here God is describing creation. Were you there? Can you tell me how it happened? And even we think about that. What did God set the earth on?

[22:46] Not an elephant. That's held up by a turtle. He said it on himself. It's held up by the strength of his power.

[22:59] And he's just calling Job to think through these things. He's getting Job to think of the kind of God that he is. Do you know what creation is established on?

[23:09] Do you know how big it is? Or how all the proper measurements were calculated? It's so tempting. The earth is within inches of the correct distance from the sun.

[23:24] It varies. Maybe it's not in inches. It varies just... And those are the only distances it can be. God had to figure that out. Or we'd be french fries.

[23:35] Or we'd be frozen french fries. If it wasn't for God figuring all those calculations. God says, Job, were you there? Did you do that? Do you know how or even who set the limits on the sea when it was created?

[23:51] That's verses 8 through 12. Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb? When it made clouds its garment.

[24:03] In the thick darkness its swaddling band. And prescribed limits for it. And set bars and doors. And said, thus far shall you come and no farther. And here shall your proud waves be stayed.

[24:17] Both at creation. The picture there is initially at creation. Where God created everything. And it was just a formless void. And the waters covered everything.

[24:29] And God delineated those waters. And yet as he continued creation. He says, okay. I'm going to make dry land appear. And this is where the edge of the dry land is. This is where the sea comes to.

[24:39] How did God do that? How does he keep that line even today? Why do not all the continents of the world simply just wash into the sea? And it become one level place again?

[24:53] God's challenging. Job, do you know? Now we're not going to read this all in one section. Verses 12 through 38.

[25:05] God goes from creation. Making creation. To managing, controlling this creation. In verses 12 through 15. Let me read that.

[25:16] Have you commanded the morning since your days began? And caused the sun to know its place? That it might take hold of the skirts of the earth? And the wicked be shaken out of it? It is changed like clay under the seal.

[25:29] And its features stand out like a garment. From the wicked their light is shed. And their uplifted arm is broken. Do you know how to control the ordering of the sunrise?

[25:40] Since the beginning of days? Or to the end of days? Do you use it to keep in check the wicked of the world? Now, we'll make more of this later.

[25:51] But these are rhetorical questions. And there's an implied answer. And the implied answer is. As God speaks it.

[26:02] I know. You should trust me. And so. Do you know how to control the sunrise? And all this? God says, I know.

[26:13] You should trust me. And then verses 16 to 18. Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or walked in the recesses of the deep?

[26:24] Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare it if you know all this.

[26:37] Do you know the details of the earth? We've only had a couple of subs that's gone down to where the Titanic is. And we've never been any lower than that.

[26:49] There are lower places. God says, do you know what those areas look like? Do you know what's there? I do. You should trust me.

[27:01] Verses 19 to 21. Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And where is the place of darkness? That you may take it to its territory. And that you may discern the paths to its home.

[27:13] You know, for you were born then. And the number of your days is great. There's a sarcastic remark by God. But he's not trying to rub Job's nose in it.

[27:25] He's trying to get Job to see the senselessness of speaking the way he is. Do you know where light and darkness are supposed to be? Do you know, if you look at a globe with a light on it.

[27:39] Or an illustration of that. The sun shining on one side of the globe. And the earth turns. Do you know exactly where that division is at all times?

[27:49] Always in its proper place. He says, I know. You should trust me. Verses 22 to 24.

[27:59] Have you entered the storehouses of the snow? Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail? Which have been reserved for the time of trouble. For the day of battle and war.

[28:10] What is the way to the place where light is distributed? Or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth? Do you know where the origins of the weather is?

[28:21] And the purposes God's used for them to carry out? We read in Old Testament, the book of Judges. At one point in a battle.

[28:32] Do you remember what happened? Great hailstorms. Larger than had ever been seen before. Fell on the earth. As Israel was going to defend themselves and conquer the land.

[28:44] And God killed the inhabitants of that land with the hailstorms. And it says more people died to the hailstorms than Israel killed. God had that laid up somewhere.

[28:57] Do you know where that was? God had the ability. Whether he literally kept it in a storehouse somewhere. Or had the ability to create a storm.

[29:08] He can do either. Had the ability to create a storm. So as to create those hailstones. To do his work at the exact time for his exact purpose.

[29:19] And the same thing goes on today. The weather today is not willy-nilly. God is still in control. And as much as it was hard to know about the tidal wave that killed hundreds of thousands of people.

[29:39] 10, 12, 15 years ago. God knew about that. He had his purposes. We don't understand them all. Do you know how to control weather like that?

[29:51] God says, I do. You should trust me. Verses 28 to 30. Oh, let me do 25 to 27 first.

[30:06] Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain? And the way for the thunderbolt? To bring rain on a land where no man is. Or on the desert in which there is no man.

[30:17] To satisfy the waste and desolate land. And to make the ground sprout with grass. Is God continuing to talk about his ability to weather weather. Controlling the results of the rain.

[30:28] Where does the rain flow? Where does the flooding happen? It's not willy-nilly. God knows. He can put rain in the desert where it hasn't rained in decades or centuries.

[30:40] He can withhold rain from anywhere. Do you know how to control the weather? God says, I do. He goes on talking about weather in verses 28 to 30.

[30:52] Has the rain a father? Who has begotten the drops of dew? And from whose womb did the ice come forth? And who was given birth to the frost of heaven? The waters became hard like stone and the face of the deep is frozen.

[31:06] Do you know how to bring rain, dew, ice, frost, or ice-covered seas? As I thought about this, I'm not exactly sure this is what it deals with.

[31:19] But I thought about, we're often in marvel of snowflakes and how no two of them are the same. We thought about how many snowflakes also. And how many drops of rain.

[31:32] God knows and controls all that. Can you do that? He says to Job. I can. You should trust me. In verse 31.

[31:45] 31 to 33. Can you bind the chain of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion? Can you lead forth the Maseroth in their season? Or can you guide the bear with its children?

[31:58] Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth? I thought, this is amazing. Here's God saying, can you make sure all the constellations are in the right place at the right time consistently so that Orion has been in the same spot?

[32:23] Not literally, there's relativity. Relativity as the earth turns and goes around the sun. But it's the same cycle. And it's been that way for millennia.

[32:34] God says, I know how to do that. You should trust me. Verses 34 to 38.

[32:45] Can you lift up your voice to the clouds that a flood of waters may cover you? Can you send forth lightnings that they may go and say to you, here we are.

[32:57] Who has put wisdom in the inward parts or given understanding to the mind? Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can tilt the water skins of the heavens when the dust runs like a mass and the clouds stick fast together?

[33:12] Can you control the clouds? Where and how much it rains? Can you control lightning to do your bidding? I thought this was interesting.

[33:24] Can you count the clouds? Have you ever tried to do that? I mean, just the vast number of them is unbelievable.

[33:37] But you ever watched a big cloud and all of a sudden it becomes two? Then it becomes one? That happens. God says, I know how many clouds there are.

[33:51] You should trust me. In verses... I skipped some here, so we'll just read them.

[34:04] 39. Can you hunt the prey for the lion? Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions when they crouch in their dens? Or lion wait in their thickets?

[34:15] Who provides for the raven its prey? When its young ones cry to God for help and wander about for lack of food? Can you provide for the lions?

[34:27] You say the lions hunt for themselves. They do. But God still provides. Who and what one? And lest you think the animals just provide for themselves, I think the better example, and I'm not...

[34:43] Let me say this. The example I understand better. That's the way I should put it. That's not the better example. The example I understand better is the raven. The raven is a carrion bird.

[34:56] Raven don't kill. You go along the road. You see the turkey buzzard. Or the raven. Or some of these other birds that are carrion birds.

[35:10] Who kills their food? A car does. Hopefully not our car. But God kills their food.

[35:20] You don't see them starving to death. Nationwide paid for the fenders so that three turkey buzzards could have a meal.

[35:32] I'm just... Who cares for the birds that don't hunt for themselves? Oh, it's as I do. You can trust me.

[35:47] Verses 1 through 4 of chapter 39. He says, Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the does?

[36:00] Can you number the months that they fulfill? Or do you know the time when they give birth? When they crouch, bring forth their offspring, and are delivered of their young? Their young ones become strong.

[36:11] They grow up in the open. They go out and do not return to them. Can you care for the birth and growth of wild animals? God says, I can.

[36:22] You should trust me. Verses 5 through 8. Who has let the wild donkey go free? Who has loosed the bonds of the swift donkey, to whom I have given the arid plain for his home, and the salt land for his dwelling place?

[36:37] He scorns the tumult of the city. He hears not the shouts of the driver. He ranges the mountains at his pasture, and he searches every green thing.

[36:49] Can you provide for the wild donkey? Can you provide for him a home? I guess is a better way of saying it. In an arid plain, and in the mountain ranges, where he pastures.

[37:03] This one that won't ever come in, and lets you tame him, to feed him, God takes care of him. In verses 9 through 12, is the wild ox willing to serve you?

[37:20] Will he spend the night at your manger? Can you bind him in the furrow with ropes, or will he harrow the valleys after you? Will you depend on him because of his strength, because his strength is great, or will you leave to him your labor?

[37:37] Do you have faith in him, that he will return your grain, or gather it to your threshing floor? Can you control this untameable, undomesticatable being?

[37:53] God says, I can. In verses 13 through 18, the wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but they are pinions and plumage, but are they pinions and plumage of love?

[38:09] For she leaves her eggs to the earth, and lets them be warmed on the ground, forgetting that a foot may crush them, and that the wild beasts may trample them. She deals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers.

[38:22] Though her labor be in vain, yet she has no fear, because God has made her forget wisdom, and given her no share in understanding. When she rouses herself to flee, she laughs at the horse and his rider.

[38:39] Can you perpetuate the ostrich to whom God has given no wisdom to care for her eggs or her young? It's amazing that you could think that there are even any ostrich around anymore.

[38:55] But there are, because God's good, and he knows how to take care of them. And verses 19 to 25, do you give the horse his might?

[39:08] Do you clothe his neck with a mane? Do you make him leap like the locust? His majestic snorting is terrifying. He paws in the valley and exalts in his strength.

[39:20] He goes out to meet the weapons. He laughs at fear and is not dismayed. He does not turn back from the sword. Upon him rattle the quiver, the flashing spear, and the javelin. With fierceness and rage, he swallows up the ground.

[39:34] He cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet. When the trumpet sounds, he says, Aha! He smells the battle from afar, the thundering of the captains, and the shouting. Have you given the horse its wonders?

[39:49] Horses are beautiful to look at. Their strength, the way they're built. They're beautiful and majestic. The ability to jump. Did you do that, Job?

[40:00] Do you know how to do that? Horses' front legs are not skeletally attached to their skeleton. All by muscle. Not all horses are this way, but most horses can be trained to be fearless in battle.

[40:20] Run towards it. Excited. We're going to go to battle today. I get to run. I get to charge. I get to, you know, whatever he enjoys doing in the battle.

[40:31] Can you make an animal that's like that? God says, I can. You should trust me. And then he finishes out this first speech in verses 26 to 30.

[40:47] Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads its wings towards the south? Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high?

[41:02] On the rock, he dwells and makes his home. On the rocky crag and stronghold, from there he spies out his prey. His eyes behold it from far away. His young ones suck up blood.

[41:14] And where the slain are, there he is. Are you the one that give the birds of prey their abilities? Their abilities to literally glide on the wind without effort for hours?

[41:30] To make a nest thousands of feet up? Carry twigs? Balance it on the edge of a rocky crag? Craig, have you been the one who's been able to make a bird that can see for a mile and spot a mouse and take off and fly in such a way as to be unseen by that mouse and come down and grab it and go?

[41:58] Mouse never knew what hit him. Can you do that, Job? God says, I can. You should trust me. And so God's given all these examples through these two chapters.

[42:16] And he comes in our Bible to chapter 40. And it says, And the Lord said to Job, Shall a fault finder contend with a puny being?

[42:34] Not enough of you looked up. Shall a fault finder contend with the Almighty? Job, do you realize who you're talking to?

[42:48] Do you realize the kind of words you've brought, speaking as God, you've brought before me? And then God does something amazing.

[43:04] He does not say, Do you know who you're talking to? He asks Job a question, and it's an honest question.

[43:18] Do you want to continue? He who argues with God, let him answer it. What do you think, Job?

[43:35] Am I big enough? Can I do it? I've only talked about the things you could look at around you and take observation of?

[43:46] Things you probably knew a lot about already yourself. Do you still want to be talking to me like this? And Job gives a response in verses 3 through 5.

[44:02] Behold, I am of small account. What shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.

[44:12] I have spoken once, and I will not answer twice, but I will proceed no further. I can't do anything about what you've talked about.

[44:26] All those 16 things. I miss nothing before you. What can I say? You're the Almighty. I can't say anything.

[44:39] I won't contend with you anymore. To this point, Job has been shown to not know what he's talking about.

[44:54] He has to admit, I don't know more than God. His mouth is stopped, but I don't think his heart is right yet.

[45:07] So God continues the speech, and we'll deal with that next time. Some things I'd like for you to take away from this. Just like Job, all mankind has an incomplete or flawed view of God.

[45:27] Because of this incomplete, sin-corrupted view of God, we often interpret our situation or God's working incorrectly. and we end up saying and doing things we shouldn't to each other and to God.

[45:47] We ought to recognize that. We ought to recognize that we don't see things the way they really are.

[46:01] We don't have all knowledge. And so, since we're like that, how do we get rescued from those kinds of situations?

[46:15] Well, it's just like Asaph in Psalm 73. We get our thinking right when we get a right view of God. Asaph was all disturbed about how things just weren't fair, and he was ready to walk away until he went to the house of the Lord.

[46:36] Until he went where things were displayed rightly, where the view of God corrected his thinking. And so, when we get a right view of God, our thinking can be corrected.

[46:53] And brothers and sisters, that's why we gather together. One of the things Pastor Tripp said this morning, the whole idea of getting together is to get our minds right.

[47:04] We get so wrapped up in our own suffering, and God allows that suffering for good reason, but we get wrapped up in our own suffering, our own trials, and we get a wrong perspective of ourselves, and we get a wrong perspective of God.

[47:19] And brothers and sisters, we need to be here regularly to get our minds straightened out so that we see God for who He really is.

[47:31] We're not just like Him. I mean, we're made in His image. We're not just like Him. We don't know almost as much as He does. We may not, we may think, oh, you know, I think this is the way we pray like this all the time.

[47:46] Lord, I need this, and I think if you do this, that would be the best thing to do. Wow. I'm so glad God is gracious. But we need to gather together where when we read Scripture, when we sing that which is built on the Word of God, when we give praise to God with our mouths, and when we hear the Word of God, our minds are straightened out.

[48:16] God displays Himself in majesty. He corrects our thinking about Himself. He calls us to think correctly about Himself. As we assemble together, and as we are with each other, one anothering, speaking the Word of God to one another, we get our minds right and around.

[48:35] And we need that regularly. And so let me encourage you to be people who are regular.

[48:47] Not so we can count numbers. Not so that we can feel comfortable about ourselves. because you need it. I need it. I need to be here.

[48:59] And I have been surprised. I have not, I'm boasting about this church. I have not felt like that until I came here almost 20 years ago.

[49:12] I have been surprised at how my week can go and how I can say I need to be in church. and when I get there I can't believe how badly I needed to be in church.

[49:24] Now, I'm getting older in the Lord and I'm, not entirely, but I'm starting to see towards the end of my week, I'm starting to see I need to be in the Lord's house. I need to be there.

[49:36] I need to see God for who He is. I need to be around people who help me see that. So let me encourage you to be people who are careful to be here. Also careful to watch for one another.

[49:49] We talked about that a lot last week. I won't go into that again. Another thing I'd like for you to take away from this passage are these beautiful attributes of God.

[50:01] Now, I will talk about the things that's talked about in this passage, but I want to point a couple of them out that are not specifically laid out.

[50:12] You see them by reason of how God acts. The first I want to point out is the patience of God. I mentioned that God uses rhetorical questions. He used rhetorical questions to draw Job out and to draw out of him a proper perspective of God.

[50:30] God could have said, I made this place and you're not going to talk to me like that. Said every dad who's defending his house.

[50:41] God could have done that. He could have said, well, you messed it up. I'm not going to have you around anymore. But God is patience.

[50:53] Use these rhetorical questions to get Job to thinking about who he really was. He didn't rub Job's nose in it.

[51:06] He was gracious and revealed himself so as to write Job's thinking. God so that's patience. Now, you can see where I'm going to intermingle these.

[51:19] He's gracious. God let Job go for a while, probably a couple months in this situation. And he wasn't punishing Job.

[51:30] He was letting Job grow. But he was gracious. And I want to say he was gracious because it was based on the work of Christ. God did not deal with Job as he deserved and he doesn't deal with us as we deserve.

[51:45] God didn't destroy Job. We've made mention of this so I won't make much of it here. God didn't destroy Job for his wrong thinking. As he speaks with God, God is gracious.

[52:00] The passage that we read, and I won't make a lot of this, but I do want you to see, if you haven't seen already, the almightiness of God. God comes in this storm.

[52:13] That's not meant to kill Job, but to encourage him. He doesn't walk up like this crippled old man, say, I'm here to set you straight, sonny.

[52:27] He comes in his majesty. He comes in his glory, and says, Job, this is the most you could take. I want you to see that I am the powerful, almighty God, who knows all, and who's in control.

[52:45] He's gracious. And so he does that, and he shows his power in his works of creation. In these works of creation, I'll just summarize, God is shown as sovereign, eternal, gracious, omniscient, he knows everything, omnipresent, he's everywhere, omnipotent, he has all power, and all this is displayed in his works creation, and his upholding of that creation.

[53:20] Before I go, I want you to see, I hate to label it this way, because it's overly obvious, I want you to see Christ in Job.

[53:30] what Job failed to do in not having a right view of God during his trials, Christ did. Christ always had a proper view of God during his trials.

[53:45] Consequently, Christ always pleased the Father during his trials, and he was able to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. In his suffering, he had the perfect record, had the perfect standing before God, and now, because of his work, he stands before God for us.

[54:09] And when God looks at us, he looks at Christ, not at the kind of sufferer who whines and complains because things hurt, but the kind of sufferer who says, God, I trust you, I know you know what you're doing.

[54:26] And so Christ is that for us. And then this one who suffered, tempted in all points like us, yet without sin, intercedes, speaks to the Father, able with the kind of compassion that we need.

[54:44] And by saying that, we're not saying God is not compassionate. God is. But he speaks to the Father on our behalf. This passage is not here to show that you could have a better life if you were a Christian.

[55:02] Doesn't show that very well if that's the case. In fact, the argument can be made that for most people, many times, people live, their lives become much more difficult when they become a Christian.

[55:16] But I do want to encourage you, if you're here today and you don't know Christ as Savior, and you see this God as Almighty, if you're still in your sin, that Almightyness is not necessarily there to show you how good he is.

[55:32] He's there to show you you need a Savior. And if you don't have a way of dealing with your sin, then you'll stand before that holy, awesome, majestic God in wrath and in judgment.

[55:48] But one did suffer. And like the scripture reading today, I read it this week in my reading, I love that picture. These people had sinned and because of their sin, they were bitten by the serpent and they were going to die.

[56:06] And God said to Moses, put a snake up on the pole and anyone who was bitten and knows they're going to die, look at the snake. And it's used like we read in the New Testament, pointing to Christ, not that he's a snake or anything like that, but the whole idea of we're sin-cursed people, we're people under the judgment, we've been bitten because we're in Adam and we're going to die, but Christ has been raised up on the cross, suffered in our place, we can look to him and trust what he did on our behalf and it's applied to our account.

[56:47] If you don't know Christ, you can have that kind of justification by trusting him. Let's pray. Thank you Father for this picture.

[57:00] I pray that you would be with us. Help us to be people who are quick to get a right picture of God. Get our minds straightened out as we gather together and I pray that you would help us to rest in you.

[57:17] I pray that you would be with any here who are in this condition of having sin and nothing, no way of dealing with it. Pray that they would turn to the one who has provided redemption for them.

[57:30] We pray your blessing in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen.