Job — Lesson 4

THE BOOK OF JOB — LESSON 4
The Helping Hand Sabbath School Series

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Dr. Paul Manuel—2004

 

William Blake 1823

Lesson #4: Job Chapters 38, 40

What Does It Mean?

However long Job's suspense and God's silence last, they eventually come to an end. Surely, Job should welcome the relief, but when the Lord finally speaks, it is not what Job expects and actually increases his anxiety. Instead of comforting Job, God confronts Job, berating him for challenging the divine will.

Lessor mortals might interpret God's chastening as the final insult, the ultimate proof that this deity cares only for Himself and has no concern for His creatures. They might say that Job's wife, despite her apparent cynicism, actually gave him the best counsel (Job 2:9). No matter how low Job seems to have fallen, though, he rises even to this occasion, maintaining his integrity in God's presence.

In chapter thirty-eight...

Much of God's earliest communication to man came through dreams and visions (Num 12:6), which could be quite terrifying (Dan 4:6), as Job attests (Job 7:14). Occasionally, God would make contact more overtly, couching His appearance in the form of a storm (Ezek 1:4, 28). As if hearing the voice of God were not unnerving enough, when accompanied by extreme weather—thunder and lightening—the experience is even more frightening (Exod 20:18-19). Add to this tumultuous setting the purpose of God's manifestation (theophany) to Job, not revelation but condemnation, and the effect is undoubtedly overwhelming.

 

Whatever Job may have assumed (Job 13:24; 23:3; 30:20; 31:35), God has not been inattentive either to Job's condition or to his complaint. When God finally does speak, it is to 'answer' (Job 38:1; 40:6). God makes no excuses for His earlier silence ("I was distracted by something else") and gives no explanation for Job's extensive suffering ("You really did deserve this because..."). Instead, He says that Job has no business questioning the creator ("Who...darkens my counsel...?") without having been present with Him at the creation ("Where were you when I...?"). What God has in mind when He refers to Job's absence at the beginning of things and to his ignorance about the origin of things is unclear. It may mean that Job is not allowed to challenge God's current activity or that he is simply not able to comprehend God's current activity. Either way, Job's charge, "God has wronged me" (Job 19:6), is an assessment man is not qualified to make.

 

While Job did not witness the creation, there were others who did and who celebrated that event. God uses parallelism, a feature common in Hebrew that relates the idea from one line to the idea in the next line by repeating certain elements. For example, in Ps 117:1, the two lines say essentially the same thing, with each part in the first line having a corresponding part in the second line.

Praise—the LORD—all you nations
Extol—Him—all you peoples.

Job 38:7 also seems to use synonymous parallelism.

The morning stars—sang together
All the angels—shouted for joy

Identifying this feature can help us to understand a passage, especially when a term in one line illuminates the complementary term in another line. Reading only the first line, we might think "the morning stars" are the planets. The second line indicates they are "the angels."
 

Sometimes, one passage can explain what appears in another passage. The book's antagonist, who is responsible for Job's trouble, is Satan, whom we encounter only in chapters 1-2. There we learn that he is an angel and that he opposes God's purpose as well as God's people. Was Satan ever on God's side, or did he always have an adversarial role?
 

A passage in Isaiah 14 (Isaiah 14:12-14) may answer that question because it describes someone who wanted to be like God, and it refers to him by the term "morning star."

How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God.... I will make myself like the Most High."

Although the context directs the prophet's oracle "against the king of Babylon" (v. 4), the verses in question may pertain to a supernatural power behind the throne (similar to Dan 10:3, 20-21). If this passage refers to Satan (a "morning star"), then it explains how his ambition to be like God led him to rebel against God. As God's enemy, he is also our enemy (Matt 13:39; 1 Pet 5:8), and we must resist his attempts to defeat us (Jms 4:7; 1 Pet 5:9).
 

In chapter forty...

However difficult it must have been for Job to face God's displeasure once, the unpleasant experience repeats itself. Does Job have time at the close of chapter 39 to reflect on his situation, or does God allow him only a brief response before resuming the divine chastening? Is this the same storm as before, or did the severe conditions abate for a while? The author does not indicate anything but a short respite before God continues, just enough time for Job to express his inability to answer God's charge (Job 40:4-5).
 

In Job 40:7, God repeats His earlier challenge (Job 38:3)—"Brace yourself' (NIV) or "Gird up thy loins" (KJV). The loins are considered the seat of strength, and to wear a belt around the waist adds support for more demanding tasks. In this section, the interrogation shifts from Job's absence in the beginning to Job's allegation in the present. He has charged God with being unjust (Job 27:2; 34:5), a serious accusation: "It is unthinkable that God would do wrong, that the Almighty would pervert justice" (Job 34:12).
 

God responds with another series of uncomfortable rhetorical questions. He probes Job's motive (Job 40: 8) then exposes the futility of Job's method (Job 40:9). Man may confront God, as Job has attempted, but he cannot compel God. The disparity in their abilities is too great, as God illustrates with two common symbols of divine power: His arm (cf. Ps 89:10, 13, 21) and His voice (cf. Ps 29:3-9).
 

In chapter forty-two...

When next God allows Job to speak, Job acknowledges that his bid to blame God for causing his plight and then to shame God into relieving his plight was wrong. Man cannot manipulate God, and any attempt to control His actions will certainly fail (Job 42:2). Moreover, man cannot anticipate God, and any attempt to comprehend His purposes will also fail (Job 42:3).
 

Job is one of the earliest figures in scripture, perhaps a contemporary of Abraham and Melchizedek. The book does not explain how he learned about God or how much he knew about Him. Nevertheless, Job recognizes that this experience, especially his current encounter with God, though extremely difficult, has increased his understanding considerably. What he may have received second hand, he now perceived first hand. It was an important but painful advance, for in understanding God's magnificence, Job came to realize his own insignificance.
 

When God confronts Job and exposes the error of his accusation, Job does not attempt to justify his decision. He freely admits his error and, thereby, maintains his integrity in God's presence.
 

From chapters thirty-eight and forty...

Job's affliction presented him with a dilemma, because he viewed God as the cause of and the cure for his problem. Thus, Job wished for less of God's attention (Job 7:19; 10:20; 13:21), hoping that would ease his pain, but he also wished for more of God's attention (Job 13:24; 23:3, 8-9), hoping that would explain his pain. These extremes illustrate God's dual relationship to creation, that He is at once immanent (near to us) and transcendent (distant from us): "Am I only a God nearby," declares the LORD, "and not a God far away?" (Jer 23:23).
 

Christians often emphasize the first of these attributes because of the comfort God's presence can bring, and that assurance is a prominent theme in scripture (e.g., Deut 31:6; Ps 46:1; 145:18; Isa 41:10). Christians generally give less attention to the second of these attributes, because it depicts God as separate and different from us, yet that portrayal is also a prominent theme in scripture (e.g., 1 Kgs 8:27; Ps 139:7-8; Isa 66:1; Amos 9:2).
 

We must keep both aspects in mind whenever we pray. Concentrating too much on His immanence, we might become presumptuous, issuing requests as if He is at our beck-and-call. Concentrating too much on His transcendence, we might become discouraged, thinking our paltry concerns are not worth troubling him. Only by recognizing that God is both immanent and transcendent will our prayers accord with the instructions in scripture. Only then will they be both confident (Heb 14:16) and reverent (Ps 145:19).
 

Some Christians may find the Lord's blatant sarcasm unbecoming of one whose benevolent acts "show His love" (Job 37:13). He appears to taunt Job—"...if you understand...? Surely you know!" (Job 38:4-5)—oblivious to the poor man's misery. The point God makes with Job, though, is one we would do well to heed. There are many situations that may not seem right to us:

• When a student's diligently prepared report receives a poor grade,
• When a retiree loses his pension to unscrupulous accounting,
• When news of cancer negates years of careful diet and exercise.

No matter how unjust we deem a situation, we must not fault God. There are other causes of which we may not be aware (as Job was unaware of Satan's involvement).

 

Must we, then, suffer in silence? No. God wants us to bring our concerns to Him but in a way that recognizes His sovereignty, that accepts His authority to do with us as He pleases (Isa 64:8-9; Rom 9:20-21), even when His way conflicts with our way (Isa 55:8-9).
 

The Bible contains several examples of those who appeal to God but are content to accept His judgment:

• Abraham asks God to spare Sodom but is content that God will spare the righteous (Gen 18:23-33).
• Jesus asks God to find an alternative to the cross but is content that God's will is best (Matt 26:39-46).
• Paul asks God to heal his malady but is content that God will provide grace to endure it (2 Cor 12:7-9).

These instances illustrate how we can approach God without challenging His supremacy.

 

When life does not make sense, when some calamity tests our faith, God welcomes our questions. We must be careful, though, not to cross the line that separates asking Him from accusing Him.
 

From chapter forty-two...

Integrity is not just being right, it is also recognizing and admitting when we are wrong. Because Job understood this and admitted his error, he maintained his integrity in God's presence, and the same is possible for us.

A pdf of all four studies in the Job series can be found here.