Job – Chapter 38

“Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said…” The great debate is over, the conclusions are all in, Elihu has been allowed to add his final chapter, and the picture has been painted for us. It is all over. But God, the Author and the Finisher, who has been patiently waiting in the wings off-stage, as it were, now moves to center-stage. No one can fail to profit from reading what God answered Job. The mere listening to the Voice out of the whirlwind tells us more about God in a few brief chapters than we can gather from many books of scripture all put together. In a wonderful series of questions God, without revealing Himself, causes us to stop and think. We take each morning so much for granted. But what nation on earth could devise and create an object so vast, so fearsome, so untouchable, yet so delightful, and health-giving, as the morning sun? And having created it, could then hang it in space for endless centuries where it would never falter or fail, never lose its orbit, never lose its heat, never approach too close, need no attention, yet be more regular than the clock in the hall? An object, moreover, that would give light to all the earth yet allow us time to sleep; that would waken the little birds and give welcome heat to every nation; that would cause flowers to bloom and fruit to ripen yet shine impartially as God Himself on the just and the unjust alike? Could any man, or any series of men, or any one nation of men, or even a united world of men, accomplish such a feat as to create something at once terrible yet beneficent, majestic yet humble, breathing fire yet doing good? Yet the morning sun is only one of the many many wonders of God, and man chooses to ignore it and despise the wonder, and think himself greater than God. Now Christ is our morning sun, the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world, the One who wakens the birds and causes the fruit to ripen, the terrible yet beneficent, the majestic yet humble. Christ is the wonder of heaven, yet man ignores and despises Him today. Christ is the one-word answer to most of the questions in the 38th chapter of Job. “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?” He was in the bosom of the Father, before the world was. “Who hath laid the measures thereof?” By Him “are all things” that exist. “Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened?” They are fastened to the Cross which was before the foundation of the earth. The things of God on earth are copied from the pattern shown on the mount. The Cross of Christ on earth has its original in heaven, and the whole earth hangs – or falls – by the eternal security of the eternal Cross. Yet man ignores the Cross of Christ in his ignorance and pride, not knowing that the very ground he walks upon is dependent thereon. “Who laid the corner stone thereof?” Christ. Yes, He knew that man would sin and He would have to pay the penalty, but He loved us “before the world was” enough to lay the cornerstone of earth, and He died for us that He might be the cornerstone of the new heaven and the new earth wherein will dwell only righteousness. “Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.” It is spoken to Job, but it is spoken to each one of us. Do we know the answer to God’s great questions? Christ is the answer. But if we continue to ignore Christ, what answer shall we give when God at last moves to center-stage and demands an answer from us? And if we knew the answer, yet do nothing about it ourselves, will God overlook it in the day of His wrath? Christ is the answer. Therefore we must accept Christ, and turn to God in repentance, and confess that Christ is our only answer. And God will be pleased to accept our answer, for it is the right answer, and Christ is to be glorified. “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?” If all we have is a multitude of words without knowledge, then the little light God has permitted us to keep will sooner or later become darkness again. Earth is full of voices, each voice pouring out a torrent of words daily, yet without the knowledge of God that Elihu calls ‘perfect knowledge’ – that is, knowledge learned by experience. So even church councils are darkened, and worldly counsel is without light, because the real knowledge of God is lost more and more. God speaks from the whirlwind, from the pillar of cloud and fire, from the dire thing without substance which cannot be trapped or tamed or destroyed or fought or subdued, but which is itself capable of immense devastation. What man or what nation, by what means, can capture the whirlwind and reduce it to ashes? Shall weapons of war threaten it, or will it respond to the pleadings of peace? As it whirls threateningly in the face of Job and his friends, they must cover their faces and hide themselves, cowering in their shelters, while God speaks from that impregnable position of power, demanding an answer to His powerful questions. It is a terrifying sight, that whirlwind, revealing the power of the Almighty, concealing all but the voice of God. But as God strides to centerstage, clothed in power and might, it is the Voice like a sharp, two-edged sword which cuts away the veneer of righteousness from man and leaves him quaking in his shoes. “Who is this…?” asks the Voice. Does the greatest of all the men of the east jump to his feet to answer? “Who is this that darkeneth counsel…?” asks the Voice. Does the most perfect man on earth make any attempt to reply? “Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?” asks the Voice. Does the one man who knew God best in his generation stand up to be counted? Not a hope of that. Yet proud man, ignorant, rebellious, God-hating, Christ-rejecting, plans someday to stand before God, and give an account of himself before the Throne. We cannot go down these chapters verse by verse as we would wish to do, but please, please read for yourself, not once but many times in your lifetime, what God answered Job. We consider it a wonder that Elijah is fed by the ravens, but answer this, “Who provideth for the raven his food?” “Wherefore,” said the Lord Jesus Christ, “if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe ye, O ye of little faith?” But our only answer is to hide our head, for we have never experienced God like that, and our knowledge is not ‘perfect’ in that respect. We can see the force of the question. We can see, in theory, what the answer should be. But we have only “words without knowledge,” for to the question, “Shall He not…?” we can only mumble, “Who knows? We have never experienced it.” But if our knowledge of God is so imperfect, how shall we stand before Him if He comes our way demanding answers? But if we live by faith, then at least at the judgment seat of Christ we will have the answer, for we will see there that we are indeed clothed with the righteousness of Christ. There our knowledge will be perfect, for we will have the experience to prove it. “Who provideth for the raven his food?” God alone, the Creator and upholder of the universe. “When his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.” The ox knoweth his master, and the ass his master’s crib, says scripture. Every animal, wild or tame, knows who provides for him his daily food. But man, proud man, clothed in his own brief authority, is the only living part of creation that professes not to know or to care. The young raven croaks as he flies abroad in his search for meat, but his cry is directed Godward, not manward. Only man looks to man for his sustenance. But did not our Lord assure us Himself that if we would seek the kingdom of heaven – look up, not around you – and his righteousness, all these things would be added unto us? Who believes it? Only they who experience it. We have to experience God to know God; we have to know God by experiencing Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. “Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?” To whom must we come for knowledge of God then? To our fellowman? Of course not! To Jesus Christ the Son of God, the only Man who had perfect knowledge of God. “No man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him,” He said. It is Christ in us who is made wisdom to us. It is Christ who, by His Spirit in us, gives understanding to the heart. Christ is, in fact, the only answer provided by God to every question God might propound to us. “Whence hath this Man this wisdom?” they asked in awe of the Lord Jesus. “This wisdom cometh from above,” He taught His disciples. Those who come to the Risen Christ find it so in their own experience. Suddenly they have ‘perfect knowledge,’ not painfully acquired from outside and beaten into them by schoolmasters or tutors, but ‘wisdom in the inward parts” such as they had never dreamed of. Suddenly they have understanding, not thrust upon them by a system of colleges, but understanding in the heart that thrusts from within out into their everyday living. “Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?” Christ is the answer. Indeed, if we were to take each and every question separately that God propounds in this chapter, we could prove conclusively that Christ is not only the answer, but the only answer. Is it wise then to ignore Christ? Should we continue to seek for answers apart from Christ? The wisest man on earth, crying, “There is no God,” is a fool at heart, according to scripture. The most foolish person alive, who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, has wisdom in the inward parts and understanding in the heart. Can we see that? It will help us grasp reality at least, if we can. The true wisdom, the real understanding cannot come from outside. It must be planted within us by our Creator, and allowed to root in us, and grow till it becomes visible even to our neighbors and friends. “Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion?” God demands of Job. No. The flesh-eaters hunt at night, crouched, waiting to spring. And the prey, sensing their presence, flees by another route. Only on one dark night, when the Lamb walked openly into the midst, and asked, “Whom seek ye?” And the bloodthirsty, instead of springing, fell backward! Who provided the Lamb for the prey? God did. Who led the Lamb to the slaughter? God did. Yet man thought it was man who caught and slew the Lamb of God by his own cunning. Men still think like that. Only those with wisdom in the inward parts, and understanding in the heart, see and know that it was not possible for man to provide for such a ‘kill.’ Abraham got it right when he told his son, “God shall provide Himself a Lamb.” It is God who provides. Job cannot provide for himself. We cannot provide for ourselves. God has made provision both for Job and for us. God is not asking Job questions; scripture says, “God answered Job.” The ‘prey’ had been provided before Job was born. The Lamb was prior to Abraham. The bloodthirsty had gone supperless in many generations, till the one night Judas Iscariot led the pack. There is no question involved. It is simply God’s answer to Job, and God’s answer to us. If we accept the answer, we will be able someday to stand before God without fear, and acknowledge that we found the answer and it was right. Will God in turn accept our answer? God has accepted the answer already, and confirmed His acceptance of it by raising Christ from the dead and exalting Him to highest glory, and crowning Him Lord of all. The questions to us are rhetorical, for the inward wisdom of God assures us of the answer, but our question to you is, “Do you know the answer?” Christ is the answer. Do you then know Him? In your own experience?