Gold for the heart

Job 38

God answered Job out of the whirlwind

1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, 2 Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3 Now gird up your loins like a man; for I will question you and you teach me.

Picture this moment—After the loss of his wealth, children, and health—after the condemnation of his three friends—God, His Maker, the Creator of the universe, appeared inside a whirlwind, hurricane to speak to Job.

4 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding. 5 Who laid its measures, if you know? Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 On what are its foundations fastened/sockets sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone; 7 when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

‘morning stars’ - stars are made of light: Enormous swirling masses of hydrogen and helium (science tells us).
However, these stars sing. Stars are often synonymous with angels in scripture (Jude 1:13).
Exodus 20:11 tells us that all things in the universe were made in the six days.

8 Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? 9 When I made the cloud its garment, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it, 10 when I fixed my limit for it, and set bars and doors, 11 And said, Here you will come, but no further: and here your proud waves stop!

God’s purpose is to remove wickedness

12 Have you commanded the morning since your days; and caused the dayspring to know his place; 13 That it might take hold of the ends/wings of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it? 14 It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand like a garment. 15 And light is withheld from the wicked, and the high arm will be broken.

God states specifically His purpose is removing wickedness.
As the days of life progress those who will not bow to their Creator become obvious to all.

16 Have you gone into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked and searched their depths? 17 Have the gates of death been opened to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death? 18 Have you perceived the breadth of the earth? Declare if you know it all.

I John 3:20… God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

19 Where is the way where light dwells? And as for darkness, where is its place, 20 That you should take it to its territory and that you should perceive the paths to its house. 21 You know, because you were born then? And the number of your days is great?

I John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

Psalm 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.

22 Have you entered into the treasures of the snow? Or have you seen the treasures of the hail, 23 which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?

Joshua 10 has an illustration of God using hail in the day of battle.

Joshua 10:11 And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Beth-horon, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven on them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.

24 By what way is the light parted, which scatters the east wind on the earth? 25 Who has cut a channel for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder; 26 to cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, in which there is no man; 27 to satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth? 28 Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew? 29 Out of whose womb came the ice? And the hoary frost of heaven, who gendered it? 30 The waters harden like a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

He guides the stars

31 Can you bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? 32 Can you bring out Mazzaroth in his season? Or can you guide Arcturus with his sons?

Mazzeroth means ‘the 12’ which refers to the 12 signs of the Zodiac.
In Genesis 1 God said the sun, moon, stars were to give light and were for signs, seasons, days and years.
The root of the word sign is ‘to come,’ an invitation.
Virgo, the virgin spoke of the virgin birth of the Savior, through whom all are invited to come to God.
Notice God’s humility. He doesn’t boast in any of this saying I did this, I did this. He just asks Job, did you do this?

33 Do you know the ordinances of heaven? Can you set its dominion in the earth? 34 Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover you? 35 Can you send lightnings, that they may go, and say to you, Here we are?

The lightning bolts answer God.
The cherubim in Ezekiel move about like lightning.

Ezekiel 1:13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.

36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the heart? 37 Who can number the clouds in wisdom? Or tip the water jars of heaven, 38 when the dust grows into hardness, and the clods stick together? 39 Will you hunt the prey for the lion? Or fill the appetite of the young lions, 40 when they couch in their dens, and abide in their lair to lie in wait? 41 Who provides for the raven his food? When his young ones cry to God, they wander for lack of food.

God says that He hunts prey for the lions.
There is no such thing as mother nature. It is always God at work in His creation.
Do you see what God has said to Job and all of us in this chapter?
He is in charge of all that goes on.
He is able.
He knows what He’s doing.
He can be trusted even when things look desperately bad.

Romans 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Psalm 145:16-17 You open your hand, and satisfy the desire of every living thing. 17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.

Job 39

God is present overseeing the births of all His creation

1 Do you know the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? Or can you mark when the deer give birth? 2 Can you count the months that they fulfill? Or do you know the time when they bring forth? 3 They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones, and send out their sorrows. 4 Their offspring become strong, they grow up in the field; they go forth, and do not return to them. 5 Who has sent out the wild ass free? Or who has loosed the bands of the wild ass? 6 Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the salt places his dwellings. 7 He laughs at the turmoil of the city; he does not hear the shout of the driver. 8 The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searches after every green thing. 9 Will the unicorn be willing to serve you, or abide by your crib?

The unicorn is thought of as mythological today, however, we know that there are many extinct species.

10 Can you bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? Or will he plow the valleys behind you? 11 Will you trust him, because his strength is great? Or will you leave your labor to him? 12 Will you believe him, that he will bring home your seed, and gather it into your barn? 13 Did you give the goodly wings to the peacocks? Or wings and feathers to the ostrich? 14 Who leaves her eggs in the earth, and warms them in dust, 15 and forgets that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them. 16 She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labor is in vain without fear 17 because God has made her forget wisdom; he has not given her to share in understanding. 18 When she lifts up herself on high, she laughs at the horse and his rider.

Notice how God is not distant from earth but here, enjoying the things that He has made.

19 Have you given the horse strength? Have you clothed his neck with thunder? 20 Can you make him afraid like a grasshopper? The glory of his nostrils is terrible. 21 He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength: he goes on to meet the armed men. 22 He mocks at fear, and is not frightened; neither does he turn back from the sword. 23 The quiver rattles against him, the glittering spear and the shield. 24 He swallows the ground with fierceness and rage: he does not stand still at the sound of the rams horn. 25 When the rams horn sounds he says, Aha; and he smells the battle far off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting. 26 Does the hawk soar by your understanding? Does he spread his wings toward the south? 27 Does the eagle mount up at your command, and make his nest on high? 28 He dwells and stays on the rock, on the crag of the rock, and the strong place. 29 From there he seeks food; his eyes behold it far off. 30 His young brood suck up blood: and where the slain are, there he is.

Psalm 104:24 O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all: the earth is full of your riches.

Job 40

1 Moreover the LORD answered Job and said, 2 Shall he that argues with the Almighty instruct him? He that corrects God, let him answer it. 3 Then Job answered the LORD and said, 4 Behold, I am vile; what can I answer you? I will lay my hand on my mouth. 5 I have spoken once; but I will not answer: yes, twice; but I will proceed no further. 6 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, 7 Gird up your loins now like a man: I will demand of you, and declare to me. 8.Will you also disannul my judgment? Will you condemn me, that you may be righteous?

God confronts our arrogance, shows us our errors.
His judgment is perfect.

Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

God clothes Himself with majesty and excellency

9 Do you have an arm like God? Or can you thunder with a voice like him?

10 Adorn yourself now with majesty and excellency; and array yourself with glory and beauty. 11 Pour out the rage of your wrath: behold every one that is proud, and abase him. 12 Look on every one that is proud, and humble him; and tread down the wicked in their place. 13 Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret. 14 Then will I also confess to you that your own right hand can save you.

“Hiding in the dust” is death.

Revelation 1:18 I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men by whom we must be saved.

15 Behold now behemoth which I made along with you; he eats grass as an ox. 16 Look how his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. 17 He moves his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together. 18 His bones are like tubes of bronze; his bones are like bars of iron. 19 He is the first of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword approach him. 20 Surely the mountains bring him food, where all the beasts of the field play. 21 He lies under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. 22 The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook surround him about. 23 Behold, he drinks up a river, and does not hurry: he trusts that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth. 24 He takes it with his eyes: his nose pierces through snares.

This sounds more like an extinct species of dinosaur.
If God can create and control this magnificent creature, He can also control the circumstances of Job’s life.

Job 41

1 Can you draw out leviathan with a hook? Or hold down his tongue with a cord? 2 Can you put a rope in his nose? Or pierce his jaw through with a thorn? 3 Will he make many supplications to you? Will he speak soft words to you? 4 Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take him for a servant forever? 5 Will you play with him as with a bird? Or will you bind him for your maidens? 6 Shall your partners bargain over him? Shall they divide him among the merchants? 7 Can you fill his skin with barbed irons? Or his head with fish spears? 8 Lay your hand on him, remember the battle, you will not do it again. 9 Behold, your expectation of him is false: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him? 10 None is so fierce that dares stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?

We can only stand before God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:9 And be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that by the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.

Matthew 22:11-13 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who did not have on a wedding garment: 12 And he said to him, Friend, how did you come in here not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. 13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

God was first—there was no one before Him; He owns everything

11 Who has preceded me that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.

Psalm 90:1-2 LORD, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.

Exodus 19:5…for all the earth are mine.

12 I will not conceal his parts, or his power, or his comely proportion. 13 Who can take off the surface of his skin? Or who can come to him within his double mail? 14 Who can open the doors of his face? His teeth are terrifying round about.15 His scales are his pride, shut up with a tight seal. 16 One is so near to another that no air can come between them. 17 They are joined one to another, they stick together that they cannot be separated.

No creature alive on earth today fits this description. It sounds like a dinosaur of some kind.
We know that many creatures are now extinct.
Job knew this creature or God would not have used it as an example to illustrate the grand point of this discussion.
God’s comments on the ostrich and hawk show us that these are all literal creatures.
Let’s acknowledge that there are things that modern man doesn’t know. Remember when scientists were sure the world was flat?

“Ancient nations everywhere describe fire-breathing dragons which formerly existed on earth, and the Bible describes at least one such creature, called leviathan. There are many indications that these dragons were actually dinosaurs, and fossil evidence does show structures on at least some dinosaurs that could well have served as mixing chambers for flammable chemicals that could be expelled in the form of fire and smoke.” Dr Henry Morris, Institute for Creation Research.

18 His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn. 19 Out of his mouth go burning torches, and sparks of fire leap out. 20 Out of his nostrils comes smoke, as out of a boiling pot fired by reeds. 21 His breath kindles coals, and a flame goes out of his mouth. 22 In his neck remains strength, and terror dances before him. 23 The folds of his flesh are joined together: they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved. 24 His heart is as firm as a stone, yes, as hard as a piece of the lower millstone. 25 When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid: from the crashing they are bewildered. 26 The sword that overtakes him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, or the javelin. 27 He counts iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. 28 The arrow cannot make him flee: slingstones are turned to stubble by him. 29 Darts are counted as straw: he laughs at the shaking of a javelin. 30 His under parts are like sharp potsherd.: he spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mire. 31 He makes the deep to boil like a pot: he makes the sea like a pot of ointment. 32 After him he makes a path shine; one would think the deep to be gray headed. 33 On earth there is nothing like him, one made without fear. 34.He beholds all high things: he is a king over all the sons of pride.

Men fear to approach this creature but God plays with him like a bird (verse 5). Therefore God can control anything that threatens us. He can control the circumstances of our lives.

Jeremiah 17:10 I, the LORD, search the heart. I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

Job 42

1 Then Job answered the LORD, and said, 2 I know that you can do all things, and that no thought can be withheld from you.

Luke 1:37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

1John 3:20…God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

3 Who is this hiding counsel without knowledge? Therefore I declared but I did not understand: things too wonderful for me, and I did not know. 4 Listen, I pray, and I will speak: I will demand of you, and you declare to me. 5 I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear: but now my eye sees you.

At man’s fall recorded in Genesis 3 man lost his right view of God.
Self became magnified and God diminished.
Through suffering, God gave back to Job a right view of himself in relationship to his Maker.
This is the meaning of the table of showbread in the tabernacle.
Showbread means ‘the bread of the face of His presence.’
Now God occupies His rightful place in Job’s life.

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

Luke 11:34 The light of the body is the eye: therefore when your eye is single, your whole body also is full of light; but when your eye is evil, your body also is full of darkness.

6 Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. 7 And after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against you, and against your two friends: for you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has. 8 Therefore now take to you seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: I will accept him: lest I deal with you according your crime, in that you have not spoken of me what is right, like my servant Job.

We need to be certain that our view of God is accurate and what we say to others about Him is accurate.
God accepts Christ, and has placed us in Christ. That is the way sinners are accepted--in the beloved.

9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the LORD commanded them: the LORD accepted Job.

Notice that God never told Job about Satan’s challenge.
God just showed Job Himself.
God’s purpose is to build our faith in Him.
God did what builds trust in Him.

1Peter 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

God took Job out of Satan’s reach and gave Job twice as much as he had before

10 And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11 Then all his brothers, and all his sisters, and all those knowing him before came to him, and ate bread with him in his house: and consoled him, and comforted him concerning all the evil that the LORD had brought on him: every man gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.

God blocked Satan’s access to Job. He put the hedge around Job back in place.

Job 1:10 Have You not made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

12 So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. 13 He had also seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Keren-happuch.

Keren-happuch means ‘glimpses of glory.’
God doubled everything Job had before the trouble except the number of children.
This is the same amount and gender of children that Job had before God took them.
Job’s first children would be with Job in heaven, so the children were doubled also.

Ezekiel 1:26 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and on the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. 27 And I saw as the color of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. 28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of one that spoke.

15 And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brothers. 16 After this Job lived a hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations. 17 So Job died, being old and full of days.

Job lived 140 years after the testing was over and God had blessed him double. He saw four generations of his sons and grandsons.

Psalm 91:16 With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.

SUMMARY: Job 38-42

God answered Job out of the whirlwind
His purpose is to remove wickedness
He guides the stars
The LORD is present and overseeing the births of all His creation
He clothes Himself with majesty and excellency
God was first; He made everything; He owns everything
He took Job out of Satan's reach and gave back double what had been taken