God's sovereign power

Text Job 40:6-42:17 Time 28/09/03 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church
We come this week to the final part of the Book of Job and to the second of the two speeches that the LORD makes to Job. In this second speech the LORD begins by rebuking Job and challenging him regarding his attitude. He then gives two final examples of creatures, this time the Behemoth and the Leviathan, that demonstrate his sovereign power. Job then humbles himself before the LORD in dust and ashes and the LORD rebukes Job’s so-called friends for their failure to speak what is right about him. They are forgiven through the prayer of Job. Finally, we are told about how the LORD restored Job’s fortunes following his terrible troubles. There are six things to notice here then in all. We can divide them into two sets of three.
1. A rebuke to receive, a challenge to consider and lessons to learn
1. A rebuke to receive - Receive this rebuke all who accuse God of injustice

In 40:6 we read that God continued to speak to Job out of the storm. As we said previously the LORD’s coming is often accompanied in the Old Testament with stormy weather, a reminder of his power and greatness. It is the LORD who comes near, however, the covenant God of Israel who is full of love and compassion. In 40:7 here repeats what he had already said back in 38:3 Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. As we said then, the term used refers to preparation for any hard work but here refers to wrestling, a fight. ‘You want a fight?’ says God, as it were, ‘then get ready’. You’ve heard of duels in days gone by, two men shooting at each other from 40 paces. Here is a duel between God and Job and Job needs to be ready for the encounter. It’s going to be a rough ride. Here the fight continues.
In verse 8 two further questions are asked, Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself? Here is a rebuke then to Job for his questioning of God’s justice and to any who are tempted to question God’s fairness to them. We must take great care how we speak of God and his dealings with us. We must not be murmurers against him. This is a loving rebuke, however, and is intended to bring a person to his senses and see what he has done. Have we spoken out in such ways? Then we must be willing to be rebuked and to repent of such foolishness.
2. A challenge to consider – Consider this challenge all who accuse God of injustice

Further questions follow in verse 9 Do you have an arm like God’s, and can your voice thunder like his? Do you have God’s power? Are you as strong as him? The LORD makes a challenge in verses 10-14 If you are so powerful Then adorn yourself with glory and splendour, and clothe yourself in honour and majesty. Unleash the fury of your wrath, look at every proud man and bring him low, look at every proud man and humble him, crush the wicked where they stand. Bury them all in the dust together; shroud their faces in the grave. Then I myself will admit to you that your own right hand can save you. If Job really does want to contend with the LORD then why does he not cover himself with glory? Does he really think that he can decide who should suffer and who should not suffer? Is he going to be the one who decides who goes to hell? The whole idea is ridiculous.

A Hollywood film recently appeared in which this idea is pursued. The basic plot of Bruce Almighty is that this TV presenter fails to get a promotion and then loses his job and gets beaten up, etc. Everything goes wrong and he blames God for it. Unexpectedly, he is summoned before God and is told that from now on he will be taking care of things. Of course, he soon finds that the task is much more difficult than he had ever realised. There are many faults and failures in the film but it does at least get this idea over. For example simply for Bruce to deal with all the often conflicting prayers of the people of one small town is a major job in itself. Now here we are being challenged by God. If we are so disappointed with the way that he is running our lives then what is our solution? Do we presume to advise him on how things can be improved?
3. A Lesson to learn - Understand God’s sovereign power

The LORD then goes on to demonstrate his sovereign power by reference to two particular creatures – the Behemoth and the Leviathan. Already our attention has been drawn to the way that the LORD provides for the lion and the raven and the way the mountain goats and deer procreate as he watches over them. We have also been reminded of the way God possesses the wild donkeys and oxen in a way that leaves them to freely roam at will. Then there was the rapid propulsion of the ostrich and the warhorse on the land and the hawk and the eagle in the sky. Here we meet two more creatures. Before we begin to look at them we must consider four introductory questions.
1 Are we talking here about two creatures or one?

Some wonder if the two words simply refer to the one creature first on land and then in the sea. However, it seems more likely that we are talking about two different creatures – one very powerful but quite placid, the second powerful and violent too.
2 Are we talking here about mythical creatures or real ones?

In some respects these do sound like quite fantastic creatures and may be the legends of such creatures are in mind here but in the light of verse 19 which speaks of the behemoth as ranking first among the works of God it is most likely that we are talking about real if rather exotic creatures in fact.
3 Are we talking here about creatures still around today or extinct ones?

It has been suggested that the behemoth is in fact the hippopotamus but the reference to His tail swaying like a cedar (17) does not fit and so others have wondered if this is may be an elephant, the trunk being the part that sways like a cedar. The elephant, however, does not eat grass. The leviathan, it is suggested, is a crocodile yet certain parts of the description again seem to take us beyond that.
4 Are we talking here about what we normally refer to today as dinosaurs?

I think that we are probably talking here about creatures now extinct, creatures like those that we most often refer to today as dinosaurs. The behemoth sounds something like a brontosaurus and the leviathan sounds something like a plesiosaur or even a stegosaurus. Our knowledge of dinosaurs is confined chiefly to what we can learn from fossils, of course. Sometimes the imagination of those who describe these creatures runs away with them but it is clear that many of them were quite magnificent creatures. There is no reason to believe that they were all wiped out at once. It is far more likely that each one became extinct at a different time, like the many other extinct animals that have died out in more recent years. As for dinosaurs on the ark, it is a well known fact that they start out as quite small creatures and there would have been no difficulty for Noah bringing them on board.
1 Behold the Behemoth and understand God’s sovereign power
The word Behemoth itself is a plural, probably to denote its large size. So we must imagine first a large animal quietly grazing (15) Look at the behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. It is then described, verses 16-18, What strength he has in his loins, what power in the muscles of his belly! His tail {or trunk} sways like a cedar; (referring to its size or perhaps its rigidity) the sinews of his thighs are close-knit. His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like rods of iron. Each element points to the noble strength of this animal, the sort of thing you see in the hippo or the elephant. It goes on (19) to make the point that He ranks first among the works of God,(this is the largest of God’s land creatures) yet his Maker can approach him with his sword. The animal is no match for God himself, of course. The point is then that if Job wants to contend with God he can get some idea of what that will involve by thinking about this creature God has made. Would you want a wrestling match with a hippo or a rhino or an elephant? How do you fancy being confronted by one of the dinosaurs of long ago? No? Then why would you want to argue with God or rebel against his will for your life?
Verses 20-24 leave us with a beautiful description of this strong, noble creature surrounded by other animals that have no fear of attack from him. It is intended to set our minds on God and his sovereign power over all things. Verses 20-24 The hills bring him their produce, and all the wild animals play nearby. Under the lotus plant he lies, hidden among the reeds in the marsh. The lotuses conceal him in their shadow; the poplars by the stream surround him. When the river rages, he is not alarmed; he is secure, though the Jordan should surge against his mouth. Can anyone capture him by the eyes, or trap him and pierce his nose? That last verse is very pointed. Are you trying to capture God and pin him down? Give up now!
2 Look at the Leviathan and understand God’s sovereign power
The word leviathan appears some six times in Scripture. The word seems to have at its root in the idea of coiling or twisting. Here in Chapter 41 we return to the straight question method. In verses 1-7 we have a series of nine questions. They are full of playful irony. They are meant to make you smile. They each serve to describe this powerful creature of God and teach us that his power is very great indeed.
Leviathan can’t be pulled in with a fishhook. You can’t even tie his huge tongue down with a rope. He won’t be tamed. Will he keep begging you for mercy? Will he speak to you with gentle words? Will he make an agreement with you for you to take him as your slave for life? Can you make a pet of him like a bird or put him on a leash for your girls? Will traders barter for him? Will they divide him up among the merchants? Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? No, (8-10) If you lay a hand on him, you will remember the struggle and never do it again! Any hope of subduing him is false; the mere sight of him is overpowering. No-one is fierce enough to rouse him.
And the application of this (10b, 11) Who then is able to stand against me? Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me. We must recognise that we cannot stand against God. We couldn’t even wrestle against a large crocodile and win. Just as we cannot put such a creature on a leash and take it for walks in the park so we cannot tame God and make him our pet poodle. Everything is his and he does as he pleases.
The description then goes on at length in verses 12-34. It doesn’t really help us to get any clearer idea of what this animal looks like but all the images are of strength and power and underline the fact of God’s sovereign power. He is not only strong but is graceful in form. No tanner could skin it and Who would approach him with a bridle? It has fearsome teeth and (15-17) His back has rows of shields tightly sealed together; each is so close to the next that no air can pass between. They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted. The description in verses 18-23 make him sound like one of those dragons of legend. This is poetry, however, and these verses should probably be understood metaphorically.
His neck and upper body are described in verses 22-24 Strength resides in his neck; dismay goes before him. The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable. His chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone. In verses 25-29 we return to the idea of trying to capture this beast. The very thought is madness. When he rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before his thrashing. The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin. Iron he treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood. Arrows do not make him flee; slingstones are like chaff to him. A club seems to him but a piece of straw; he laughs at the rattling of the lance.
Finally, we see him like the beast emerging from the sea that John speaks of in Revelation. His undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing-sledge. He makes the depths churn like a boiling cauldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment. Behind him he leaves a glistening wake; one would think the deep had white hair. Nothing on earth is his equal - a creature without fear. He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud. Those final words speak of leviathan but the point is that it is God who made him. He is the one of whom it can be said absolutely that Nothing on earth (or in heaven or under the earth either) is his equal. He needs fear no-one but looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud. Humble yourself before him now, confess your sin, seek his forgiveness.
What is your experience of God? Have you known him as the Behemoth? Are you aware of God but not as a God who invades your life? He is a God who is to be worshipped. Serve him by trusting in Jesus Christ and living for his glory. Perhaps you have known him as Leviathan. What a struggle is going on. You are trying to oppose the Almighty. Give in now and humble yourself before him before it is too late.
2. An example to emulate, a rebuke to receive and an encouragement to enjoy
1. An example to emulate - Join with Job in humbling yourself before God

At this point the book is practically over and only a few things remain to be covered. First (1-5), Job replied to the LORD: I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge? Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me. My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. Here is a wonderful example of humility for us. Job knew he had done wrong. He knew he had failed. He acknowledges God’s absolute sovereignty to do just as he pleases, therefore. He confesses his sin in speaking as he did and how ignorant he had been of God’s greatness too. He repents with great sorrow before the LORD. Now this is how we ought to proceed, especially if we have been guilty in any way of murmuring against God and complaining about our lot. Many others, like Job, can speak of the things that they have learned through suffering. It is not right simply to say that God lets us suffer in order to teach us lessons. However, one of the things that often happens when Christians suffer is that they learn things about God that they could never have learned any other way. That was Job’s experience. At this point all his sufferings and loss are forgotten as he realises how much more he has already gained.
2. A rebuke to receive - Receive this rebuke all who fail to speak rightly of God and seek forgiveness

Next we have another rebuke – this time for Job’s so-called friends.
1 The wrong

Verse 7 After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. Job was at fault in some of the things he said but he had not sinned in the way that the three friends had. They had persistently tried to explain Job’s sufferings in ways that were plain wrong. They had ended up making all sorts of terrible accusations against Job because they were unwilling to accept such a thing as innocent suffering. It is important that we remember what a serious thing it is to teach error. God is angry with all who teach what is false. To fail to speak what is right about the LORD is a great sin especially when a person claims to be speaking God’s truth. Such people deserve God’s wrath.
2 The remedy

This is given in verse 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. This was the Old Testament period and so before the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross therefore the way of atonement was through an animal sacrifice pointing forward to the coming of Christ. This was also before the establishment of the House of Levi as the priestly tribe and so Job the Patriarch is the one who was to perform the sacrifice. As a priest he was also to pray for his friends that God would not deal with them as they deserved. This was done, we read, and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.
Today a sacrifice and a prayer is needed if any of us are to find forgiveness for our folly. The only one who can do that is Jesus Christ. He has already made the sacrifice for all who are his by dying on the cross. He is also now praying in heaven for all those who are his. All we have to do is to confess our sins as Job did and as his friends did and look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you doing that? If not you will remain under God’s wrath. Turn now to the Lord and find forgiveness. Job, then, is a type of Christ. When we think of Job and his patience we should think too of Christ and all he has patiently done for sinners.
3. An encouragement to enjoy – Be encouraged by the excellent things ahead all who patiently trust in God

Finally we read (10) that After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before. In another wisdom book the Book of Proverbs we read these words (3:13-17) Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honour. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. Here we see a man who has found wisdom. Job has come to see the truth – not the truth about why he was suffering. That, it appears, was never revealed to him. However, he now knows God in a way that he never knew him before. Along with that matchless gift came other things too. Again, I remind you, we are in the Old Testament where things were often made more concrete and tangible. What happened to Job at the end of his sufferings is not guaranteed on earth for every believer. Some do suffer right to the very end. There is no guarantee that even if we do bow down to God and accept our situation that it will then pass straightaway. However, we know that this life is not all. There is a world to come. In that world these blessings will certainly be ours. What blessings?
1 Pleasant ways and peaceful paths

Verse 11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought upon him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring. We may be tempted to ask where these all were when Job was in trouble but Job himself clearly forgave them their failing. We must do the same sort of thing where necessary.
2 Riches and honour

The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first. He had 14,000 sheep, 6000 camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. Exactly twice what he had before. Verse 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. This was exactly the same as were lost in the tragic whirlwind. Often in the Bible girls’ names are not given. Here things are reversed. Verses 14 and 15 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers. The three names actually suggest beauty – as in the gentleness of doves, the sweet smell of perfume and the beautifying work of cosmetics.
3 Long life

Verses 16 and 17 After this, Job lived 140 years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so he died, old and full of years. Of course, for the believer eternal life is his reward. That will more than make up for any loss here on earth.
There were times when Job had thought he would never be happy again. He was wrong. God is gracious and kind and if we look to him there is hope for us all.

Matters to ponder with a warning and example

Text Job 38:39-40:5 Time 21/09/03 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church
We are in the final section of the Book of Job and we are looking at the speeches of the LORD found in Chapters 38-41. Last week we looked at most of Chapter 38 and the first part of the first speech. Then we noted how Job had longed for a meeting with God. Indeed, it is the obvious way for the book to end. God’s justice has been called into question, what is his answer? Now, when Job’s wish is finally being granted it is, no doubt, not really what he had expected. It is tempting for us too to be dismissive about what is said here as it is far from being what we might have expected. It is tempting to be disappointed. What is going on? Here is a man reduced to nothing and God wants to talk to him about donkeys and ostriches! Some go further. ‘A magnificent impertinence’ one writer called it. Others accuse God of waffling and the psycho-analyst Carl Jung accused God of bullying. For another it is like shaking a rattle at a baby to divert its attention.
As we said last time, however, it is important to remember that whereas up until now we have been considering human answers to the problem of suffering and the answers have been inadequate in both form and content, we now come to God’s own answer. It is, of course, a perfect one in both form and content even though it doesn’t do what we expect.
Part of the problem is our expectations. Instead of giving an answer to the problem of evil or talking about Satan or dealing with the errors of Job’s friends or whatever, the LORD meets with Job in his own world - a world of beauty, order, mystery and wonder - and asks a whole series of questions of his own. On further reflection it is perhaps what we might have expected – not more answers of the sort that man so readily gives but transcendental questions that lift us out of our own little worlds to see the folly of our own wrong attitudes and harsh thoughts towards God. What we have here is a Spirit inspired answer to the problem of suffering that clearly transcends the human wisdom of Job’s day and also of our own. Right up to the end of the book God has things he wants Job to learn, things that have been re-enforced by his sufferings. He reduces Job to silence. If we want to be wise, especially regarding this matter of suffering then we will pay close attention to what we read in these chapters.
Another problem is, perhaps, the way we read these verses. There is a lot of gentle irony here, even humour at times perhaps. It is not harsh sarcasm. He comes to Job as the LORD not as God Almighty.
Last week we looked at 38:1-3. We noted that it is the LORD who speaks, the covenant God, self-existent and yet full of love. He comes in a powerful storm and he demands that Job get ready for a fight.
To God our discussions of suffering are for the most part highly irrelevant and lacking in wisdom. They serve too often only to obscure his glory. We ought to feel rebuked for much of our grumbling and our pontificating on what we hardly understand. What he really wants from us in this matter is for us to meet with him, to sit and listen, to be overpowered by his greatness and our smallness.
We have looked at how that begins to happen in 38:4-38. There God asks Job questions about inanimate nature. We start with questions about the earth and then the sea. Then come questions about dawn falling on earth and revealing its features and then about the depths of the sea and the depths of the earth. Verses 19-21 are about light and darkness and are followed by a whole series of questions about the sky and its weather and where it comes from – first snow, hail, lightning and wind, then rain, dew, ice and frost. That leads on, finally, to questions about our control of the stars in the sky and the clouds and lightning bolts. So the general drift is from the LORD laying the earth’s foundation below us to us counting the clouds above.
In 3:38-30 we move on to animate nature or the animal and bird kingdom and questions related to that world. Some 10 creatures are mentioned altogether in this section, six animals and four birds. Most are wild or undomesticated animals. They may appear to be chosen at random but they are all quite different, showing characteristics of ferocity, helplessness, timidity, strength, bizarre behaviour and wildness.
1. Aspects of God’s dealing with his creatures to ponder
1. Ponder provision for creatures by God. He feeds lions and ravens.
Ponder lions. Verses 39, 40 Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket? Lions have been in the news this week. People are concerned that there are so few of them relatively speaking - only 23,000 in the whole of Africa! There was a time when they were a lot more common than they are now. The lion is mentioned more often in the Bible than any other wild animal. It symbolises strength and dignity. Perhaps you have been to Longleat or somewhere like that and seen them quite close up. As you may know, it is the lionesses that do the hunting for food. They are the ones who hunt the prey. The point made here is that in reality it is the LORD who provides for the lions. Neither Job nor anyone else gives any thought to it.
Ponder ravens. Similarly, verse 41 Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food? Ravens are scavenger birds and are well known for their willingness to eat almost anything. Farmers consider them pests. Jesus drew attention to them, of course, as they teach us the folly of worrying. God provides for them and we can be sure he will provide for us. There are mysteries in life. We don’t know, in many cases, why we are suffering as we are but surely we can be confident that the God who provides for the lions and for the ravens will provide for us. If he satisfies the hunger of the lions then surely he will satisfy us, if we look to him? If he provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God then surely we can be confident that he will provide for us too whatever our need.
2. Ponder procreation in nature. God sees the mountain goats and deer give birth.
Ponder mountain goats and deer. The question in 39:1 is Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? There are various types of mountain goats around today such as the ibex, which we have seen down at London Zoo. Perhaps you have seen them too. Because they live in high and remote places they are seldom seen giving birth, although they obviously do. The companion question is Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn? Deer are very shy creatures and their giving birth is seldom seen either. And so these questions are asked in verse 2 Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth? Well, it would seem, Job didn’t know the gestation period for mountain goats or deer and he certainly could not tell you just when they were giving birth. But God had seen it, (3, 4) They crouch down and bring forth their young; their labour pains are ended. Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds; they leave and do not return.
By now it has been possible to track creatures down and even film such things. Perhaps you have seen footage of deer giving birth to their young. The whole process is full of fascination as something like the Disney film Bambi and live action films show. The point here is that every time such a thing happens God sees it. He knows about it. He created these animals to procreate in this way and he has watched over every birth ever since. Now if God knows about such things then surely he knows all about you and your needs too? Nothing’s hidden from him.
3. Ponder possession of animals. God gives freedom to wild donkeys and wild oxen.
Ponder wild donkeys. By our day we are chiefly used to seeing domesticated donkeys. They are strong, if stubborn animals, and have long been domesticated for use in carrying burdens and pulling carts and so on. Wild donkeys are few and far between these days. Here the focus is on the wild donkey. Verse 5 asks Who let the wild donkey go free? Figuratively Who untied his ropes? God himself answers (6-8) I gave him the wasteland as his home, the salt flats as his habitat. He laughs at the commotion in the town; he does not hear a driver’s shout. (Again figurative). He ranges the hills for his pasture and searches for any green thing. Yes, man may possess them and tame them, although not without difficulty, but God possesses them and gives them freedom. He lets them roam where they will.
Ponder wild oxen. What is said about wild oxen is similar. Oxen were used in similar ways for pulling carts and especially, of course, for ploughing. Verses 9-12 Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will he stay by your manger at night? Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness? Will he till the valleys behind you? Will you rely on him for his great strength? Will you leave your heavy work to him? Can you trust him to bring in your grain and gather it to your threshing-floor? Of course, all these questions have to be answered in the negative because while the ox remains wild then none of these things can be done with it. Perhaps we can apply it in this way. While God allows things to run wild, we cannot harness such things in the way that we would like. This is true of our sufferings sometimes. There are such things as pain management and coping with pressure but there are times when it is all beyond us. We should not think at such times that because things are out of our control that they are out of God’s control. We cannot make such assumptions.
4. Ponder propulsion on the ground. God makes ostriches and warhorses fast.
Ponder ostriches. There is quite a bit about the ostrich in verses 13-18. This time we have a description rather than questions as such. Ostriches are strange creatures, as you know, because although they are birds and have wings (they are the largest birds living today being 6-8 feet in height) they cannot actually fly. With their long gangly legs and prominent eyelashes that protect their eyes from sand and dust they are odd looking creatures. They are rather foolish too in the way that they treat their young, as is noted here. Their speed on land, however, is quite phenomenal. They can reach speeds of 60 mph or so and can run at 40 or 50 mph for up to half an hour. Verses 13-18 The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but they cannot compare with the pinions and feathers of the stork. She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand, unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them. She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers; she cares not that her labour was in vain, for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense. Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider. Although there is no question then, the obvious point is that it is God who has made the ostrich foolish in some respects but skilful in others – here speed in particular.
Ponder warhorses. Verses 19-25 revert in part to the question method as we think next of another speedy animal. This time the horse and particularly the warhorse, the one domesticated animal that we focus on. One writer calls it ‘one of the most outstanding eulogies of this magnificent creature in all literature.’ Here is speed again but something much more – here is strength, flair, élan, power, bravery, eagerness. Listen to verses 19-25

Do you give the horse his strength or clothe his neck with a flowing mane? Do you make him leap like a locust, (when the spurs dig in) striking terror with his proud snorting? He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength, and charges into the fray. He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; he does not shy away from the sword. The quiver rattles against his side, along with the flashing spear and lance. In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground; he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds. At the blast of the trumpet he snorts, Aha! He catches the scent of battle from afar, the shout of commanders and the battle cry.

Yes, men ride on horses. Over the centuries they have used them in battle. However, it is God who has made the horse strong and brave and fast and magnificent. There used to be stables in Childs Hill when I first came here but it is gone now and a horse is a rare sight in our streets. I remember early one morning, however, walking up towards the Heath when I came round a corner and there were some 20 or so horses with cavalry officers on horseback out for a morning trot. An amazing sight. You have been to Buckingham Palace or Horse Guards Parade and seen these magnificent creatures, I am sure. Who made them so magnificent? It is God who gave the horse its strong body, its flowing mane, its head and hooves. Now the God who does such things can be trusted. We can look confidently to him. We must.
5. Ponder propulsion though the air. God makes hawks and eagles fly.
Ponder hawks and eagles. Finally, we look up into the sky and to the hawks and eagles. Now you usually have to travel a long way to see eagles and hawks in this country but there are similar birds of prey. Where I come from you see kestrels and near Aberystwyth there are many kites. We went to see kites feeding at Nant-yr-Arian the year before last. It is a magnificent sight. I remember too visiting London Zoo where they had an eagle owl flying just above people’s heads as it swooped for food. So here’s the question (26) Does the hawk (or any other bird of prey) take flight by your wisdom and spread his wings towards the south?
Having begun with the king of beasts, the lion, the LORD ends with the king of birds, the eagle. Verses 27-30 Does the eagle soar at your command and build his nest on high? He dwells on a cliff and stays there at night; a rocky crag is his stronghold. From there he seeks out his food; his eyes detect it from afar. His young ones feast on blood, and where the slain are, there is he. Again, it is a marvellous and evocative description. So we are thinking not only here of the eagle’s magnificent seed as it soars through the air but other matters – the way it builds its nest way up on a bleak crag which it then makes its home. Think of the splendid isolation, the grandeur of the cliff top. Think of its incredible eyesight. From way up in its rocky crag it can look down and see a small lamb or some other creature which it is able to swoop down and take in a moment providing food for its young. It is nature red in beak and talon and we may naturally turn from it in revulsion but here is evidence once more of God’s wisdom and power. The truth is that it is all around us, if we only have eyes to see it. We never need doubt the wisdom and power of God while we are able to see something of the animal kingdom and what it is like.
It is important when we study the Scriptures that we always look to see what we can learn about Christ. Here I think it is important that we remember that all things were made through Christ and for his glory. When we speak then of God’s knowledge, provision, sovereignty, power and wisdom, we are speaking of the knowledge, provision, sovereignty, power and wisdom of Christ. It is this same Christ who lived and died so that all who trust in him may not only be forgiven but know peace even in the midst of suffering.
2. A warning against contending with God

To close I want us to concentrate on 40:1-5. Firstly, there is a warning. Verses 1, 2 The LORD said to Job: Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him! This warning is implicit in what we have read and here it is spelled out. God has infinite wisdom and not only did he create this whole universe but he also manages this whole world as he pleases and with great skill. This consideration should convince us that to try and contend with the LORD or to make accusations against him cannot be right. Are you really going to fight against God? Are you really going to correct him and tell him how to run things. We know, surely, that the whole idea is crazy.
3. An example of how to react to God

So what do we do in the midst of suffering, especially if we feel we have spoken out unwisely or had thoughts accusing God of unfairness and injustice? Job is great example to us. Verses 3, 4 Then Job answered the LORD: I am unworthy - how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer - twice, but I will say no more. We need to realise our unworthiness and our insolence before God and be silent. We need to humble ourselves before him and recognise that he is in control and he will do as he wills. Surely this should be our attitude whenever we suffer. There are things in our lives that we don’t like, that we hate, things we want to see the back of. However, if we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have to say that God is in control and we need to humble ourselves before him and acknowledge his wisdom. He made the ostrich odd but fast, the warhorse magnificent and fast. He lets the wild donkey roam free. He provides for the lions and ravens. He also wisely acts in our lives so that if we trust in him all will work for our good.

Humility, silence, reflection

Text Job 38:1-38 Date 14/09/03 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church
We return this week to the Book of Job and to Chapter 38. At this point the LORD at last breaks his silence and speaks. In fact this is the first part of the first of two speeches found in Chapters 38-41.
In 13:20-22 Job had said Only grant me these two things, O God, and then I will not hide from you: Withdraw your hand far from me, and stop frightening me with your terrors. Then summon me and I will answer, or let me speak, and you reply and in 31:35-37 he had cried out Oh, that I had someone to hear me! I sign now my defence - let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser put his indictment in writing. Surely I would wear it on my shoulder, I would put it on like a crown. I would give him an account of my every step; like a prince I would approach him. Well, here Job’s wish is granted. We have had to wait for the speeches of the angry young man Elihu first but now the LORD does come and he speaks to Job. Job doesn’t approach him like a prince, as he thought he would, but God certainly does speak. And what does he say?
Well, again I don’t suppose it was anything like Job had imagined it and may be you will be tempted to be disappointed with what we read here. What is this? Here is a man reduced to nothing and God wants to talk to him about donkeys and ostriches! However, it is important to remember that whereas up until now we have been considering human answers to the problem of suffering and the answers have been inadequate in both form and content, we now come to God’s own answer. It is, of course, a perfect one in both form and content. In one way we have come full circle, back to the place where the book began – the LORD’s court. The name the LORD (Yahweh) has only been used once (12:9) since the opening chapters. If you remember, the book begins in the courts of heaven where the angels of God are appearing before the LORD and he takes opportunity to speak about his servant Job and how upright and holy he was. This leads, of course, to sneers from Satan and the request to test his loyalty to God by afflicting him, which is granted. That is how Job ends up in the mess he did, with one disaster after another coming upon him. In the intervening chapters we have heard Job’s so-called friends dispensing their human answers to the problem of suffering with very limited success. Now it is time to listen to God and to what he has to say about all this and as we have said the answer is not what we might have expected.
Instead of giving an answer as such or dealing with the errors of Job’s friends, the LORD meets with Job in his own world, a world of beauty, order, mystery and wonder and asks a whole series of questions of his own. On reflection, this is perhaps what we might have expected – not more answers of the sort that man so readily gives but transcendental answers that lift us above our own little worlds to see the folly of our own wrong attitudes and harsh thoughts towards God. What we have here is a Spirit inspired answer to the problem of suffering that clearly transcends the human wisdom of Job’s day and also of our own. Right up to the end of the book God has things he wants Job to learn, things that have been re-enforced by his sufferings. He reduces Job to silence. If we want to be wise, especially regarding this matter of suffering, then we will pay close attention to what we read in these chapters.
1. Seek the right attitude to suffering – humility before God, silence and reflection before him
Verse 1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. The storm perhaps began further back when Elihu was speaking (37:1-5, 22) but now it comes to its height. The LORD’s coming is often connected with storms in the Old Testament. Think of Mount Sinai and the giving of the law. Ezekiel’s great vision of God begins I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north - an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. Psalm 18:7-13 is simialr The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him - the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. Or what about Nahum 1:3? His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet.
The very name the LORD is important, of course, signifying not only the unique and self-existent character of God but his covenant commitment to his people. He is the God who revealed himself to Moses not only in the burning bush as the Great I AM but also (Exodus 34:6) The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.
God spoke from the storm and said: Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Now this could be addressed to Elihu, the last speaker or to Job. It seems more likely that he is referring to Job who had also spoken with words without knowledge. He says, in 42:3, You asked, Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge? Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. God then says (3) Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. The term used refers to preparation for any hard work. Here it is for wrestling, for a fight. ‘You want a fight?’ says God, as it were, ‘then get ready for one’. You have heard of duels in days gone by, two men shooting at each other from 40 paces. Here is a duel then between God and Job and Job needs to be ready for the encounter. It’s going to be a rough ride. Here are two applications then
1. Consider what God thinks of our discussions of suffering. For the most part they are highly irrelevant and lacking in wisdom. They serve too often only to obscure his glory. We ought to feel rebuked for much of our grumbling and our pontificating on what we hardly understand. Do we?
2. Consider what God really wants from us in this matter. What he wants rather is for us to meet with him, to sit and listen, to be overpowered by his greatness and our smallness. Are you willing to do that?
2. Things to consider before you begin to ask questions about suffering
In 38:4-38 we have a series of questions that the LORD asks. The questions go on beyond that point but we will just concentrate on these first. They are all to do with nature, of course, here inanimate nature. I am sure there is a pattern but it is difficult to discern. We start with questions about the earth and then the sea. Then come questions about dawn coming on the earth and revealing its features. I suppose that the revelation of earth is then matched with revealing the depths of the sea but also the depths of the earth. Verses 19-21 are about light and darkness paralleling the previous verses about dawn. We then come onto a whole series of questions about the sky and its weather and where it comes from – first snow, hail, lightning and wind, then rain, dew, ice and frost. That leads on, finally, to questions about our control of the stars in the sky and the clouds and lightning bolts. So the general drift is from the LORD laying the earth’s foundation below us to us counting the clouds above.
1. Consider the earth’s foundation – who put it here and how does it stay put?

Firstly, God asks Job (4-6) Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone - while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? Despite what some want to tell us we know that the world was created by God. He did it in the beginning when neither Job nor you or I nor any other human being was present. Only the angels saw it. They are the morning stars who sang together and the sons of God who shouted for joy. The earth’s diameter is apparently 7,920 miles across the middle and 7,900 miles top to bottom. Its circumference is around 25,000 miles. It has a mass of 6,600 million million million times. Who decided it should have those particular dimensions? Surely you know! Men have been measuring its distance since – the height of its mountains, the depths if its seas, etc, but who measured it out originally, who, as it were, set its footings and laid its cornerstone? Now do you think that the God who did all this makes mistakes or needs to be questioned or criticised about how he runs the universe and how he runs your life and mine?
2. Consider the sea – who put it there and what keeps it there?

The LORD continues in verses 8-11 Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt? We know that when God made the earth he made not only the land but also the sea. God was there when that screaming struggling baby burst forth from the womb. He put clothes on it at first – clouds and darkness. It was a monster that needed to be restrained. It is well known that there is more sea than land, so how come the sea (which can look so threatening at times) doesn’t completely drown the land as it once did at God’s command? It is because God has fixed limits for it and, as it were, set its doors and bars in place so that it cannot go any further. King Canute was famously unable to stop the tide coming in but when the King of Kings says This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt the sea listens. Do you not think he has the same power over Satan and over suffering? They can only do just as he wills.
3. Consider the dawn – who’s in charge of daily bringing it in?

More questions follow. Verses 12, 13 Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it? We then have a beautiful description of the light revealing earth’s form (14) The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment. When day dawns the righteous are glad but the wicked hate the light because it exposes their wicked deeds. Morning is like a great giant taking a sheet and shaking it. The wicked are revealed by it – they are shaken out. They are like nocturnal creatures. Darkness is their ‘light’ – their time to work and so when day comes (15) The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken. They cannot do their evil deeds. Now the questions to us is whether we have ever been the ones to give the order for morning to dawn? There have been times when we have longed for it or wished for it not to come but our power over such things is non-existent. Only God can order the dawn about. It’s his army. It does his will.
4. Consider the remotest parts of earth – have you seen them and explored them?

More questions (16) Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? Divers can go quite deep, of course, but only so deep. Beyond a certain depth divers are in danger of what they call ‘the bends’ and need to take great care. The bathysphere enables them to go very deep indeed but not to walk there. The deepest place in the oceans, indeed on earth, is probably the Marianas Trench, southwest of Guam in the Pacific Ocean. At 36,198 feet, it is deep enough to contain Mount Everest. No-one has ever plumbed such a depth. And, of course, beyond that is the depth of the earth itself. You have heard of Jules Verne’s Journey to the centre of the earth but that is fiction. Verse 17 Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? Or (18) Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this. Think of the Sahara desert or the Gobi or Kalahari, the arctic Tundra, the vast mountain ranges of the Caucasus or the Andes, the jungles of the far east, the vast Australian outback. There are still plenty of virtually unexplored areas. With all this unexplored territory why should we be surprised that we do not know the answer to the problem of evil and suffering? We are surrounded by mystery.
5. Consider the light and darkness – with all your experience how well do you know them?

In verses 19-21 God asks What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings? Then with the most sarcasm we will find here Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years! Job demanded light on the subject of suffering, release from his darkness, but he hardly knows the first thing about light and darkness in fact and nor do we. We know that with a prism you can divide it up into its various colours but can darkness be divided in the same way? Although the study of light and darkness has undoubtedly made many strides since Job’s day, there are still many mysteries. Is light made up of rays or particles? How does light bend? It is able to pass through glass without loss of quality or speed but not through wood; why? If you have a dark room and put the light on there is light, but where does the darkness go? When you switch the light off again where does the light go? And what about the bounds of light and darkness? Is there a place in the universe beyond all light? What are black holes?

Do you know that by nature you are in the darkness of sin and death. When his light dawns then every shadow disappears. Jesus is the light of the world. Whoever follows him will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Do you realise that?
6. Consider the snow, hail, lightning, wind – do you know where they come from?

Meteorology, the study of the weather, is an endlessly fascinating subject, especially for some. I picked up a best seller from the library this week called Encyclopaedia of snow. It’s not quite what the title may suggest but it is certainly about the endlessly fascinating subject of snow and is decorated with snow crystals each of which, as you know, God has made unique. The question then (22, 23) is Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle? A man called Erich Durschmied has written a book on this called The weather factor showing how crucial it has been in determining the outcome of certain strategic battles. What is said of snow and hail can also be said of lightning (24) What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth? How ignorant we are about all sorts of things.
7. Consider the rain, dew, ice and frost – do you know where they come from?

In verses 25-30 we consider several other aspects of the weather and are asked what we know about them. Here Job is not being asked about things outside his experience but things he knew well such as rain and dew. Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no-one in it, to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass? Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew? The rain falls even in uninhabited lands. It is all part of God’s good purpose for this earth. Sometimes the waters are frozen, of course. Think of ice and frost (29) From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen? You have seen such a thing perhaps. Frost in the garden, ponds on the heath frozen over. Ice does not have a mother any more than rain and dew has a father, of course. God brings such things about. He can send a downpour or make lake solid at will. Remember his skill and his power.
8. Consider the stars – how much control do you have over them?

In verses 31-33 having thought of the snow and rain from heaven we turn from meteorology to astronomy and think of the stars. From time immemorial men have given names to the constellations. We cannot be sure exactly what figures are in mind here but the general point is clear. Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth? The Pleiades are the seven sisters, a cluster of seven stars often visible in our hemisphere. Orion’s belt is a distinctive line of three stars easily spotted and the Bear, also known as the Plough, is another distinctive formation. We don’t see the stars so well here in London but whenever it is not cloudy there is a wonderful display in the sky. Who orders it? Who brings it about? It is God. Look to the stars – see God’s skill and wisdom, his greatness and power.
9. Consider the clouds and lightning bolts – how much control do you have over them?

Finally, as we think of the sky let’s think of the clouds and the lightning bolts that come from them. Again clouds are an endlessly interesting subject. One can look at them for hours. They are ever changing. There was a famous artist, as you know, who used to paint in this area. He painted a picture of Childs Hill once. I’m thinking of John Constable. He was fascinated with painting clouds. I think they have some of his studies in Kenwood House. The study of clouds was developed in the 19th Century by a Luke Howard (as revealed in the book The Invention of Clouds: How an Amateur Meteorologist Forged the Language of the Skies). He gave names to the different sorts of clouds – cumulus, stratus and nimbus and so on. His ideas have been developed but there is still a lot to learn about clouds and even if we knew everything currently known we could not answer these questions. 34-38 Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? They can send up planes to move clouds and to burst them now but to speak and to have a cloud burst …. Verse 35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, Here we are? This leads to verse 36 Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind? Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? And back to Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together? How hard we find it to relieve one another, to help one another but God can pour a whole storm out in a moment. He can make clods of earth that have been stuck together for ages suddenly wet and muddy in a moment. What can he not do for you, if you look to him?
When Jesus died on the cross he is described in one place as saying (Psalm 22:14) I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. Why did God let him be poured out like that? He did it so that all who trust in him might be delivered from the deadness and dryness of sin. Trust in him and you will live. He will be like water poured out on dry ground to you. He promises to refresh the weary and restore the faint.

See God's Works; don't misapply truth

Text Job 36 37 Time 20/06/03 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

We’re looking at the speeches of Elihu, an angry young man who speaks towards the end of the Book of Job, after Job and his three friends have all had their say in response to Job’s sufferings. We’ve already looked at the first four of Elihu’s six chapter speech (32-35). He begins very ponderously and longwindedly but at least with some compassion for Job. This seems to go out of the window in the middle chapters but towards the end (36, 37) he seems to get back on to a more even keel. At the beginning Elihu seems to be taking a fresh approach to Job’s problems. However, he soon descends back into the same approach Job’s friends had taken. All four make three big mistakes:
1 They overstate the sufferings of the wicked in this life. They seem unwilling to admit that many wicked people live outwardly happy lives in this world untouched by many troubles.
2 They believed that suffering is always a punishment for wrongdoing and that prosperity is a mark of righteousness. Elihu has some idea of suffering being a means of God speaking to men but he lines up behind the friends’ ideas for the most part.
3 Because Job was suffering they, therefore, concluded that he must have seriously sinned in some way. Elihu’s idea is that Job’s sin is perhaps his poor response to his troubles.
Here in Chapters 36, 37, Elihu closes with two final appeals to Job. As so often in this book, most of what he says is orthodox and sound. However, where the problem comes is in the application. In both chapters Elihu’s focus is rightly on God, God’s work in providence and in creation. This is in fact where the Book of Job turns in its final wonderful chapters. Elihu is almost there in one sense – but not quite. There are two sorts of teaching for us here –
1. Orthodox teaching about the character and work of God
2. Teaching by way of negative example warning us not to misapply the truth to those who seek help
1. A warning against claiming more for your belief than warranted
In the opening verses Elihu is back to his old bombast and posturing. 1-4 Elihu continued: Bear with me a little longer and I will show you that there is more to be said on God’s behalf. I get my knowledge from afar; I will ascribe justice to my Maker. Be assured that my words are not false; one perfect in knowledge is with you.
He makes several claims. He wants to speak on God’s behalf. He claims to have knowledge from afar – rare teaching, something exceptional and exclusive. He assures his hearers that what he has to say is reliable as he is one perfect in knowledge! Here is the last word on God then, the final and exclusive teaching necessary to be sure one has it right. Now when we hear people talking like that alarm bells should ring. Yes, it is right that those who preach should speak as though speaking the very words of God. However, we are all imperfect beings and none of us speak perfectly. As for the latest ideas, exclusive teachings, we should follow only what the Bible itself teaches, what godly men have taught down the centuries. The last thing we need is something new. It was the boast of Princeton Seminary when it was in its heyday that nothing new ever came out of it. While it stayed that way all was well. Once it tried to come up with something new and exclusive, it was in trouble. Let’s be modest about our claims where we can. This is the Word of God. I speak to you in the name of the Living God. What I have to say to you is not unique. It has been said before by many others and is being said by many more today.
2. A call to recognise God’s wonderful works in providence; a warning not to misapply this teaching
1. Consider God’s might as seen in his providence

Elihu begins what he has to say with a perfectly orthodox statement about God’s power. Verse 5 God is mighty, but does not despise men; he is mighty, and firm in his purpose. Such statements could be confirmed from many places in the Bible. God is mighty but he does not run roughshod over men. He is mighty and his purposes always prevail. This is seen on one hand in the way (6) He does not keep the wicked alive and on the other by the way he gives the afflicted their rights. Verse 7 He does not take his eyes off the righteous; he enthrones them with kings and exalts them for ever. There are many examples in the Bible and throughout history of God bringing down the wicked. Pharaoh is an obvious example or think of Herod Antipas who had James the Lord’s brother put to death and accepted the people’s verdict that he spoke like a god. God struck him dead there and then. Think more recently of tyrants like Hitler and Pol Pot and Ceaucescu and no doubt Saddam Hussein. On the other hand, think of the story of Joseph being preserved down in Egypt or of how God kept the Apostle Paul through all his troubles – shipwrecks and beatings and stonings and imprisonments, etc. Think today of all the many blessings and advantages that Christians so often have. Now, of course, it would be wrong to suppose that God always judges the wicked straight away or always preserves the righteous in the same way but there is plenty of evidence for God doing this at least in part. We should be keen observers of God’s providence and we should note well how he brings down the wicked and spares the righteous.
2. Consider how God can speak through suffering

From verse 8 Elihu seems to go back to the idea of God speaking through suffering. This is disputable but seems to make sense. In verses 8-10 he says But if men are bound in chains, held fast by cords of affliction, he tells them what they have done - that they have sinned arrogantly. He makes them listen to correction and commands them to repent of their evil. Suffering binds, it holds down. It happens, says Elihu, where men have sinned arrogantly and is a means of making them listen to correction and … repent of their evil.
There are two possible outcomes. 11, 12 If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment. But if they do not listen, they will perish by the sword and die without knowledge. Things just go from bad to worse for those who are unresponsive. 13, 14 The godless in heart harbour resentment; even when he fetters them, they do not cry for help. They die in their youth, among male prostitutes of the shrines. That is in the most shameful and degrading circumstances. 15 But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering; he speaks to them in their affliction.
As we have intimated this is a perfectly orthodox position. God does speak through suffering. However, as we have already said, this was clearly not the reason why Job was suffering and it was only a very limited answer to his tragedy. When you suffer you should ask ‘Is God teaching me something through this?’ but that will seldom explain why you are suffering as you are.
3. Consider how not to misapply truths to sufferers

Elihu tries to apply his teaching to Job. Verse 16 He is wooing you he says from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food. Now, of course, there was a grain of truth in that but if God woos with such violence it’s a strange sort of courtship wouldn’t you say? He goes on to say (17) But now you are laden with the judgment due to the wicked; judgment and justice have taken hold of you. This is again to put a very dark complexion on Job’s experience. It gets worse. Because Elihu thinks this suffering is designed to woo Job to God he warns against resisting it. 18, 19 Be careful that no-one entices you by riches; do not let a large bribe turn you aside. Would your wealth or even all your mighty efforts sustain you so you would not be in distress? Don’t think money is the answer, Job. Was there even a hint that Job thought that? 20, 21 Do not long for the night, to drag people away from their homes. Beware of turning to evil, which you seem to prefer to affliction. This is faintly ridiculous though there is a patina of logic there. Job had spoken about the way the wicked so often seemed to escape suffering. Elihu has interpreted this as indifference to sin and a warning sign that Job wants to turn to life of sin. And so the suggestion that Job might be tempted to so long for wealth that he drags people away from their homes in the night.
This is hopeless. Here is Eli. He wants to help his suffering friend Jeff who’s just lost his job. ‘God’s really working in your life’ says Eli to Jeff. ‘He really wants to bless you through this trouble.’ ‘You’re under his judgement at the moment and you’ve got to be careful not to give into any sinful desires like greed. You’ve sounded rather fed up at times and I’m worried that you’re going to break out in some way and start throwing your tenants out or something’. It’s bad counsel and it’s unlikely to help anyone. Let’s steer clear.
4. Consider God’s power and perfection and learn from him

Finally, in this section Elihu wants to keep the focus on God. He says (22, 23) God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him? Who has prescribed his ways for him, or said to him, You have done wrong? God’s a great teacher, none better. He uses his power to raise up and to bring down. We don’t tell him what to do, he tells us.
Again this is very orthodox and correct but how is it supposed to help Job? ‘It’s God’s power that’s put you where you are, Job. He’s teaching you a lesson and there’s nothing you can do about it.’ Imagine saying that to someone in trouble.
So God is mighty, … and firm in his purpose. God is exalted in his power. He does speak through suffering too. It can be a wake up call to repent. It can be God’s megaphone to warn us, his rod to chastise us. The teaching is clearly there in Hebrews 12. However, knowing that is not everything. Knowledge puffs up but love builds up, says Paul. Let us be very careful when we apply this particular teaching to ourselves and especially to others.
3. A call to recognise God’s wonderful works in creation; a warning not to misapply this teaching
1. Consider this call to extol God’s works, which are much praised, known everywhere and reveal his greatness

In 36:24 we really start on a new line. Elihu calls on Job not only to recognise his works in providence but also in creation. He calls on him to extol these works. He says three things about these works.
1 They are much praised

24 Remember to extol his work, which men have praised in song. Even as early as Job’s day there were hymns and psalms praising God for his works. Many have praised God in the past and in Scripture and church history we have many, many examples of how to praise God. These can act as models for us as we seek to praise God also.
2 Known everywhere

25 All mankind has seen it; men gaze on it from afar. There are people who are famous in one country or another. There are extremely few who are known everywhere. God’s fame is, of course, throughout the world, and beyond. Think how it is today, especially. All over the world men and women are praising God, we ought to extol him too.
3 They reveal God’s greatness

In particular God’s works reveal his incomprehensibility, his eternal and then his sovereignty. 26 How great is God - beyond our understanding! The number of his years is past finding out.
It is good for us to extol God’s works whether we are suffering or not.
2. Consider God’s mystery and monarchy displayed in stormy weather

Elihu goes on to speak of God’s works in particular. He concentrates on stormy weather firstly. He describes the water cycle first (27, 28) He draws up the drops of water, which distil as rain to the streams; the clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind. He asks (29) Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds, how he thunders from his pavilion? Meteorology has come quite a way since Elihu’s day no doubt and some things are better understood about the clouds. We have names for all the different types for example – cumulus and cirrus and nimbus, etc. However, the mystery itself – how God spreads out the clouds – is beyond us.
At this point, it would seem, as they are looking up at the clouds, a storm begins. Before the rain the lightning and thunder come. See how he scatters his lightning about him, says Elihu bathing the depths of the sea and everything else. It is a manifestation of God’s sovereign power. 31 This is the way he governs the nations and provides food in abundance. Without the rain food wouldn’t grow. 32, 33 He fills his hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark. His thunder announces the coming storm; even the cattle make known its approach. The animals are restless.
Elihu continues At this my heart pounds and leaps from its place. Then he says (2-4) Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice, to the rumbling that comes from his mouth. He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth. After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his majestic voice. When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back. Children sometimes ask whether the thunder is God’s voice. Well, yes and no. It is not God’s voice in the way you and I have a voice but it is one of the ways that God speaks. We ought to listen to that voice. Verse 5 God’s voice thunders in marvellous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. Again the emphasis is on God’s incomprehensibility.
Creation is full of such things. Think of snow or rain storms. Verse 6 He says to the snow, Fall on the earth, and to the rain shower, Be a mighty downpour. Why does God do that? One reason is (7) So that all men he has made may know his work, he stops every man from his labour. He describes how (and it seems to be happening as he speaks) The animals take cover; they remain in their dens. The tempest comes out from its chamber, the cold from the driving winds. He thinks then of wintry conditions (10) The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen. Breath is poetic. God speaks or breathes and ice forms. Ice, you may know, is one of creation’s great marvels. Most liquids contract when they get colder but water at a certain point expands. Because it is lighter than water it remains on the top. This is God’s doing.
Elihu goes on (11, 12) He loads the clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning through them. At his direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever he commands them. At times God uses the weather to bring about judgements He brings the clouds to punish men, or to water his earth and show his love. Whole books have been written on the weather factor and how crucial battles have been won or lost.
We ought often to contemplate God’s creation. It should fill us with wonder.
3. Consider God’s wonders and our incomprehension

Elihu sums up his point in verses 14-16 Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God’s wonders. Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash? Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of him who is perfect in knowledge?
Paul tells us in the New Testament that God’s divine qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, can be seen from creation. Here are some examples. We ought to focus on such things. This is not the answer to suffering but the mystery and monarchy of God displayed both in creation and in suffering. There are things we do not understand about either. In both we have to humble ourselves before God and accept his sovereignty.
4. Consider God’s might and majesty displayed in sunny weather

Of course, it is not only wintry weather and stormy weather that displays God’s glory. Sunny weather also speaks of his might and majesty. Verses 17-20 You who swelter in your clothes when the land lies hushed under the south wind, can you join him in spreading out the skies, hard as a mirror of cast bronze? Tell us what we should say to him; we cannot draw up our case because of our darkness. Should he be told that I want to speak? Would any man ask to be swallowed up? Elihu is rather aggressive here and goes beyond himself again. God’s power over the weather does not mean that we cannot speak to him about it. We have often made it a matter of prayer and many times we have been answered. He controls the weather, however, not us. He is in control.
By this point the storm appears to be over. Elihu adds (21, 22) Now no-one can look at the sun, bright as it is in the skies after the wind has swept them clean. Out of the north he comes in golden splendour; God comes in awesome majesty. People have worshipped the sun. They certainly did in Elihu’s day. Some try and explain it away as a merely natural phenomenon. It simply happens to be the exact distance from earth that is necessary for it to be the blessing that it is. We know from the Bible, however, that God put it there. He made it and he sustains it day after day. Every time we see it we have reason to thank God.
Again then we say that whether we are suffering or not we ought to consider the might and the majesty of God as seen in the sun and in the warm weather he sends.
5. Consider the power and justice of God and revere him

Elihu concludes his speech (23, 24) The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power; in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress. Therefore, men revere him, for does he not have regard for all the wise in heart? Again this is a pretty orthodox conclusion. God is mighty and powerful but he is just. Any accusations of injustice are misplaced. People revere him because they know he regards the wise in heart. Of course, this is aimed at Job. The implication is that Job is both wrong and foolish for he is mystified at God’s dealings with him. Again this is unwarranted although the call to revere God is always right.
Elihu finishes speaking then. He has added very little in the end, despite some good points. Like the others because he is limited to creation and to experience, he cannot help Job very much. This underlines again the need for revelation from God. Without that, everything will be a mystery. We must look to what the Word of God says. It speaks first and foremostly of Christ who died for sinners. All who trust in him can know forgiveness of sin. Repent and trust in him.

Errors to avoid when counselling

Text Job 34, 35 Time 13/07/03 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

I remember once seeing a comedy sketch featuring a supposed football match between Greek and German philosophers of old. It was a surreal piece of nonsense. You had people dressed up in flowing togas as Socrates, Plato, Pythagoras, etc, on one side, then men dressed in 18th and 19th Century costume representing Kant, Hegel, Nietszsche, etc, on the other. There was a football but there was no activity to speak of. All the philosophers, to a man, were simply thinking about what to do. The most boring match you could imagine. Then suddenly there is a substitution on the German side and they bring Karl Marx on. Marx is full of enthusiasm and runs round like a mad thing but never actually kicks the ball. He then simply falls into the thinking mode of all the others on the pitch.
I mention this because I think it well illustrates the role that Elihu seems to play here in the Book of Job. You know how the Book of Job begins with Job and his troubles and then proceeds with a series of speeches from his three so-called fiends. Elihu is a young man who is present throughout but doesn’t say anything until Chapter 32. And when he does he is like this Karl Marx figure, full of energy and running everywhere. But he soon slows down and falls into the same old routine as seen in the others.
We looked last week at Chapters 32, 33 and the beginning of his 6 chapter long series of speeches. We noted several good characteristics that seemed to display themselves at first – Elihu seems to be a good listener; courteous but passionate and boldly direct in speech; one who gave glory to God; showing a good measure of fairness and humility. We ought to be like that. We saw too how he tried to deal with Job’s complaints – that God wasn’t being fair; that he wasn’t answering his prayers and that no-one understood him. Elihu especially stressed that God was indeed speaking to him. In fact, he was speaking through his very suffering. Now that is far from being the whole answer to suffering but it’s an insight that none of the others seems to have had. As far as they were concerned, the fact that Job was suffering must be due to sin. If there was no obvious sin it must be a secret sin – and in light of Job’s troubles, clearly something very bad. Well, Elihu doesn’t go down that path, at least at first. Sadly, after his promising beginning, however, things go down hill. It is Chapters 34, 35 that I want us to concentrate on today, Elihu’s third and fourth speeches.
These speeches follow the pattern set in the first, in that Elihu quotes (or misquotes) Job and then goes on to deal with the arguments he has raised or is supposed to have raised. Sadly, the compassion of the first speech seems to have disappeared. Taken up with his own rhetoric and the fact he has the ear of others, Elihu becomes rather cold and analytical. He even repeats the charges already made by the others that we know are false. When it comes to suffering we tend to think first of our own sufferings but we must think too of how we’re going to help others in their troubles. There are several lessons for us to learn here about counselling those who suffer or are in trouble, by way of negative example.
1. When seeking to help those in trouble don’t have too high opinion of your own human wisdom
Elihu begins as before by asking for attention to what he has to say. Verses 2-4 Hear my words, you wise men; he says listen to me, you men of learning. For the ear tests words as the tongue tastes food. Let us discern for ourselves what is right; let us learn together what is good. Elihu believed that Job’s problem could be solved through human wisdom. He thought he had the answer and that anyone wise would see that he did. Yet for all his rhetoric he was only trotting out old arguments that we know are wrong because we are told so at the very beginning of the book. Elihu had spoken very humbly before (33:6) I am just like you before God; I too have been taken from clay but that seems to have been forgotten. We dare not forget our lack of wisdom if we are going to help those in need. Let’s avoid attitudes that say ‘Hey, you’re in trouble but don’t worry, I’m here. I’ll sort it out for you. Just listen to me and I’ll have you sorted out in no time.’ That is human arrogance and pride. It is misplaced.
2. When seeking to help those in trouble don’t be unfair to them
Elihu goes on to quote Job as saying (5, 6) I am innocent, but God denies me justice. Although I am right, I am considered a liar; although I am guiltless, his arrow inflicts an incurable wound. This is probably fair enough. Job had said these sorts of things. However, Elihu goes on to say (7, 8) What man is like Job, who drinks scorn like water? He keeps company with evildoers; he associates with wicked men. This sounds like the three friends again. What has prompted this vitriol? Verse 9 For he says, It profits a man nothing when he tries to please God. This is really unfair. This is not what Job was saying. Job had said that the wicked say (Job 21:14,1 5) Leave us alone! We have no desire to know your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him? But he himself did not take that view.
A lesson we can learn here then is on how to quote people. We must be accurate. We must keep in mind the context. We must regard the state they were in when they spoke too. Job does say regrettable things – but it is not surprising when you think about it. We certainly must avoid the argument that says ‘the implication of what you say is …’ and then claim that is what the person is advocating. Let’s learn not to throw back things in the faces of those who suffer, trying to pick them up on what they’ve said. Sometimes it is appropriate to reason with people in trouble and point out logical inconsistencies but not always.
3. When seeking to help those in trouble don’t misapply doctrine
Having created this straw man, Elihu proceeds to demolish it with arguments that, though no doubt true, are not the answer to Job’s problems. Indeed they are things that Job fully agreed with. He begins (10) So listen to me, you men of understanding. He is not focused on Job but on proving his point. That is a mistake we must always avoid in counselling. He goes on Far be it from God to do evil, from the Almighty to do wrong. God is just (11) He repays a man for what he has done; he brings upon him what his conduct deserves. This follows from the fact that he is perfect in every way. As he says (12) It is unthinkable that God would do wrong, that the Almighty would pervert justice. God is the Creator and Sustainer of all things (13-15) Who appointed him over the earth? Who put him in charge of the whole world? If it were his intention and he withdrew his spirit and breath, all mankind would perish together and man would return to the dust.
God is the Almighty and he uses his power to bring about justice in his world. 16-20 If you have understanding, hear this; listen to what I say. Can he who hates justice govern? Will you condemn the just and mighty One? Is he not the One who says to kings, You are worthless, and to nobles, You are wicked, who shows no partiality to princes and does not favour the rich over the poor, for they are all the work of his hands. They die in an instant, in the middle of the night; the people are shaken and they pass away; the mighty are removed without human hand.
There’s more. God is omniscient. He knows all things. (21-23) His eyes are on the ways of men; he sees their every step. There is no dark place, no deep shadow, where evildoers can hide. God has no need to examine men further, that they should come before him for judgment.
He is also omnipotent (24-26) Without enquiry he shatters the mighty and sets up others in their place. Because he takes note of their deeds, he overthrows them in the night and they are crushed.
All this demonstrates that God must be holy and just. 26-28 He punishes them for their wickedness where everyone can see them, because they turned from following him and had no regard for any of his ways. They caused the cry of the poor to come before him, so that he heard the cry of the needy.
He adds But if he remains silent, who can condemn him? If he hides his face, who can see him? Yet he is over man and nation alike, to keep a godless man from ruling, from laying snares for the people. These verses could be taken in more than one way but the emphasis is again on God’s sovereignty. He rules. He governs his world justly.
So God is sovereign, omniscient and omnipotent, almighty. He is holy and just, perfect and fair. These are all truths that could be supported from many places in Scripture. If you have doubts about these truths you have no need for such doubts. But was this what Job needed to hear?
Here is Jed. He’s a believer but his young wife has just died. So Eric wants to comfort Jed and so he says ‘Don’t worry Jed. God is in control. He is working this out for his glory.’ Now that is true, of course, but it is unlikely that is the truth that Jed needs to hear at that moment. It is only an insensitive and unthinking sort of person who would think that this is going to help anyone. Yes, God is sovereign. He is in control of all that happens. Nothing happens except by his will. But that does not mean that we always understand why he does what he does. Many things are a mystery to us. We do not know why he allows many of things that he does. We do not rebel and say God is unjust or that things are out of his control. Rather we humble ourselves before him and we say The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised (Job 1:21).
4. When seeking to help those in trouble don’t misapply a word a practical exhortation
Having given us the benefit of his doctrinal knowledge, Elihu next begins to tell Job what to do. Verses 31-33 are difficult verses to understand for various reasons. The NIV has Elihu saying Suppose a man says to God, I am guilty but will offend no more. Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do so again. He then says to Job Should God then reward you on your terms, when you refuse to repent? You must decide, not I; so tell me what you know. Elihu feels, like the others that Job is suffering for something he has done wrong. His new so called insight is that this is not something that happened before the suffering but the bad reaction to the suffering itself. The way out of it, therefore, is repentance. Surely Job realises that is what God wants?
Elihu then appeals to his ‘wise’ audience (34-37) Men of understanding declare, wise men who hear me say to me, in other words ‘anyone with any brains will agree with me’ Job speaks without knowledge; his words lack insight. He’s got it all wrong. And then in rather vitriolic words Oh, that Job might be tested to the utmost for answering like a wicked man! To his sin he adds rebellion; scornfully he claps his hands among us and multiplies his words against God. Job is a rebel, says Elihu, he deserves all he gets and it ought to stay like this if he won’t repent!
So here is something else not to do seeking to hep others. And yet it is something that most of us have probably fallen into. I think the problem is that we’re all sinners, we’re all rebels and we all need to repent everyday. Therefore when someone’s in trouble we tend to think they must deserve at least to some extent and so we are tempted to urge repentance on them or something equally inappropriate such as more faith or more a patience or more thinking about others. Imagine the scene. Jill has cancer and is pretty ill with it. Edna goes to see her. Now Edna is sure that if Jill was more repentant for her sins then God would take the cancer away and so she broaches the subject. ‘Are you really sorry for all your sins, Jill?’ she says ‘Are you sure you’re really repenting? I’m sure that if you really repented God would take this cancer away?’. Would that help Jill? Somehow, I think not. It’s the same when people trot out the line that the problem is lack of faith. ‘If you had more faith, all would be well’ they say. Would it? Let’s avoid misapplied exhortations. Yes, we all need to repent from our sins and put faith in Christ more and more but that’s true of those who are not suffering as well as those who are.
5. When seeking to help those in trouble don’t overstate a doctrine and so distort it
In the third speech, which is in Chapter 35, Elihu again begins by quoting Job. 2, 3 Do you think this is just? he says You say, I shall be cleared by God. Yet you ask him, What profit is it to me, and what do I gain by not sinning? He also sums up what he thinks Job has said in Chapters 14 and 15 you say that you do not see him, that your case is before him and you must wait for him, and further, that his anger never punishes and he does not take the least notice of wickedness. Again this is not exactly what Job had said. Nevertheless, Elihu goes on to attempt to answer these related questions that he has partly touched upon before – what difference does it make to God whether a man sins or not and why does he appear not to answer the prayers of those in need?
Elihu begins I would like to reply to you and to your friends with you. He is still playing to the gallery. He has his eye not on Job but on others who are listening too. That in itself is a major failure. In answer to the question of what difference it makes to God whether a man sins or not he says (5) Look up at the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds so high above you. God is way above us. He is far from us in greatness and glory. And so he asks (6-8) If you sin, how does that affect him? If your sins are many, what does that do to him? If you are righteous, what do you give to him, or what does he receive from your hand? Your wickedness affects only a man like yourself, and your righteousness only the sons of men. The argument is a commonplace one and is not new. We heard the same thing from Eliphaz back in 22:2, 3 Can a man be of benefit to God? Can even a wise man benefit him? What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous? What would he gain if your ways were blameless?
The main problem with it is that it is an overstatement. Yes, we must accept the transcendence of God. God is in heaven and you are on earth. In Isaiah 55:8, 9 we read For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. We must recognize that God is high and lifted up and compared with him, we are nothing at all. However, we must not confuse transcendence and indifference. It is often useful to think of parents and children in this respect. Here are little children playing with cars and dolls and other toys. They are very interested in them. What about their parents, are they interested in them? Not really. Well, not in the way that the children are. They don’t mind if the red car is faster than the blue car or if dolly wears the green outfit or the white one. Are thy then indifferent to what the children are doing? Not at all. They are very interested. So it is with God. Can your sins affect God? Does it make a difference whether you are good? In the absolute sense, no. Yet to say God is indifferent would be very wrong. Elihu is badly mistaken. Isaiah 57:15 says it clearly For this is what the high and lofty One says - he who lives for ever, whose name is holy: I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. That is the right perspective. It should be ours too. Doesn’t the coming of Christ and the cross teach us that?
6. When seeking to help those in trouble don’t misjudge people
The second question Elihu attempts to deal with is why God appears not to answer the prayers of those in need. His answer is a simplistic one. 9-13 Men cry out under a load of oppression; he says they plead for relief from the arm of the powerful. But no-one says, Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night, who teaches more to us than to the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the air? He does not answer when men cry out because of the arrogance of the wicked. Indeed, God does not listen to their empty plea; the Almighty pays no attention to it. People cry out, he says, they demand relief, but they’re not really praying to God. Their pride stands in the way. He turns to Job and he says (14-16) How much less, then, will he listen when you say that you do not see him, that your case is before him and you must wait for him, and further, that his anger never punishes and he does not take the least notice of wickedness. So Job opens his mouth with empty talk; without knowledge he multiplies words. If Job did a bit more real praying and a little less belly aching then may be he wouldn’t have the troubles he does have!
Again you can imagine how insensitive and unhelpful such an approach would be. Here is Jackie. Jackie was born with a debilitating disease that cannot be cured but Jackie is a Christian and has gained great comfort from trusting in Christ. However, in more recent years Jackie has been very down and is finding it more difficult than ever. Prayer seems to be no help. There seems to be no response from God. So along comes Eryl to try and help. ‘The problem is that you can’t really be praying. Yes, I know you say your prayers but that’s not the same as praying. If you spent more time trying to pray than moaning about your situation I’m sure your problems would all be over.’ Yes, you can see that even if it were true it would not work. There is such a thing as saying prayers rather than praying. However, it will not explain the problem of suffering. There are people who want to say that when people are not healed it is probably a lack of faith. They’re not really praying or they are not praying hard enough or often enough. Such ideas show a great deal of misunderstanding about suffering and about prayer.
So when we endeavour to help those who are in trouble, these are good things to keep in mind –
Make sure your wisdom is from heaven not from earth; be fair to those who are in trouble; use doctrine and practical exhortations, but make sure they are appropriate and make sure that you keep a proper balance; assume the best of the person you are seeking to help. There may be a problem with a lack of faith or repentance but do not assume that is it. Above all look to the Lord Jesus Christ and learn from him to be compassionate and caring. May God use us to help the needy and may the Holy Spirit the Great Comforter use us to comfort others through him.