Job 38:3 | KingComments | STEP | God is going to speak. He spoke to Adam and Eve and they hid. When He spoke to Moses, Moses had to remove his sandals from his feet. Elijah wrapped his face when he met God in the gentle blowing of a wind. The voice, perhaps more than the apparition, reveals the person. A lot has been said about God in the previous conversations by Job and the friends and Elihu, but His actual presence was not felt. Now that God Himself is showing Himself, Job is going to change. So it is with us. In the speaking of God we will not hear an explanation of the problem with which Job has wrestled. The problem is not even mentioned. God does not defend Himself against Job’s accusations of injustice. He does not come as the next Speaker to make a new attempt to convince Job, but He comes as the One Who speaks the last and decisive word in majesty. God comes simply as the Supreme. God does not come with “new witnesses” ( ) to Job, of which he was so afraid. He also does not come in a storm to sweep away Job and no longer to hear him ( ). God does not come to make his suffering greater, but to provide pastoral care for Job in a very personal way. He does not show that to others. But when God has done His work, His care, to Job, He presents him to His friends as a changed Job. We see something similar in what the Lord Jesus did to Peter ( ; ; ). Job wanted to sue God for His role in the suffering that afflicted him. But when God appears to Job, the roles are reversed. God calls him to account. He asks Job more than seventy questions to which he has no answers at all. This proves that Job is incapable of understanding God’s ways with nature, let alone having power over it. If he does not even know and understand the natural coherence of it, how could he expect to understand God’s ways with man? Finally, this leads to Job being convinced and his breakdown. He retracts and repents in dust and ashes ( ). God is known from His creation ( ). He speaks of His wondrous works, not of the works of Job. No mention is made of Job’s good works. God lets Job know by His appearance to him that He has not abandoned him. Nor does God blame Job for certain sins as the cause of his suffering. God only blames Job for the incongruous words he spoke in his bitterness during his suffering. This is exactly what Elihu did before, which proves that Elihu spoke according to God’s will. In their conversations, the three friends and Job discussed a difficult problem. Everywhere in creation it appears that everything is subject to fixed statutes and laws. If the Creator deals with the whole cosmos according to recognizable rules, why shouldn’t there be such reliable rules in His dealings with people? God now shows how much man overestimates himself when he claims to understand His actions as Creator and Sustainer. And if he does not understand God’s actions in natural things, how much less he does understand His ways with men. One of Job’s closing words was: “Let the Almighty answer me!” ( ; cf. ). The answer comes now ( ). But nothing of Job’s intention to approach the Almighty “as a prince” ( ) comes to pass. The answer of “the LORD” comes “out of the whirlwind”, not to crush Job by that whirlwind, but to answer him (cf. ). God answers as “the LORD”, the Name which is also used in Job 1-2 and which is characteristic of God’s relationship with man. The LORD comes to him in an impressive way. Job must acknowledge with Whom he has to do. But He comes to restore him, not to destroy him. When Job was plunged into misery, He also spoke through a terrible storm. It killed all his children ( ). The first words of God immediately make clear what He blames Job for ( ). God begins with the question: “Who is this?” Therein already resounds the great exaltation of God and the great nothingness of man, Job. They are not words of contempt or of wrath, but a reproach. They are words of indignation, for Job has had the audacity to darken God’s counsel by misrepresenting His ways. This indignation of God is understandable when we remember that we do not appreciate it when things are said of us that are not true. With his words, Job has darkened God’s counsel, which is His government of the world, including the disasters that have struck him. God reigns in disasters and plagues, in which His hand is clearly visible. But His counsel is darkened by human approaches, explanations and reasoning about them. Job has also given his explanation. In doing so he has come to accuse God of injustice, and by doing so he has darkened God’s counsel. He has spoken “words without knowledge” about God because he misinterpreted God’s actions. He believed he knew what God should have done, but did not do. We, too, must be careful not to assume that we know God’s will and way about situations in which someone or we ourselves have ended up and which we do not understand. We do not know all the facts that God takes into account and uses in His actions. God calls Job to gird his loins like a man ( ; ; cf. ). In this way God says to him, as it were: ‘Brace yourself to listen to My questions and then give the right answer.’ Job expressed powerful language about what he would say to God ( ). God will test the power of his words by questioning him, by asking him a number of questions. God’s questions will place the proportions in the right light. They are not questions that a man cannot understand. They are not ‘quiz questions’ to test Job’s knowledge, but educational questions. God’s goal is not to deeply make Job aware of his ignorance and thereby sweep him away, which would be very simple, but to bring him to the true knowledge of himself and of God. To grow in that knowledge is to grow in the true knowledge. That God comes to Job in this way and speaks to him in this way shows His mercy toward Job.

‏ Job 38:3

Introduction

God is going to speak. He spoke to Adam and Eve and they hid. When He spoke to Moses, Moses had to remove his sandals from his feet. Elijah wrapped his face when he met God in the gentle blowing of a wind. The voice, perhaps more than the apparition, reveals the person. A lot has been said about God in the previous conversations by Job and the friends and Elihu, but His actual presence was not felt. Now that God Himself is showing Himself, Job is going to change. So it is with us.

In the speaking of God we will not hear an explanation of the problem with which Job has wrestled. The problem is not even mentioned. God does not defend Himself against Job’s accusations of injustice. He does not come as the next Speaker to make a new attempt to convince Job, but He comes as the One Who speaks the last and decisive word in majesty. God comes simply as the Supreme.

God does not come with “new witnesses” (Job 10:17) to Job, of which he was so afraid. He also does not come in a storm to sweep away Job and no longer to hear him (Job 9:16-18). God does not come to make his suffering greater, but to provide pastoral care for Job in a very personal way. He does not show that to others. But when God has done His work, His care, to Job, He presents him to His friends as a changed Job. We see something similar in what the Lord Jesus did to Peter (1Cor 15:5a; Lk 24:34; Jn 21:15).

Job wanted to sue God for His role in the suffering that afflicted him. But when God appears to Job, the roles are reversed. God calls him to account. He asks Job more than seventy questions to which he has no answers at all. This proves that Job is incapable of understanding God’s ways with nature, let alone having power over it. If he does not even know and understand the natural coherence of it, how could he expect to understand God’s ways with man? Finally, this leads to Job being convinced and his breakdown. He retracts and repents in dust and ashes (Job 42:6).

God is known from His creation (Rom 1:20). He speaks of His wondrous works, not of the works of Job. No mention is made of Job’s good works. God lets Job know by His appearance to him that He has not abandoned him. Nor does God blame Job for certain sins as the cause of his suffering. God only blames Job for the incongruous words he spoke in his bitterness during his suffering. This is exactly what Elihu did before, which proves that Elihu spoke according to God’s will.

In their conversations, the three friends and Job discussed a difficult problem. Everywhere in creation it appears that everything is subject to fixed statutes and laws. If the Creator deals with the whole cosmos according to recognizable rules, why shouldn’t there be such reliable rules in His dealings with people? God now shows how much man overestimates himself when he claims to understand His actions as Creator and Sustainer. And if he does not understand God’s actions in natural things, how much less he does understand His ways with men.

God Answers Job

One of Job’s closing words was: “Let the Almighty answer me!” (Job 31:35; cf. Job 9:35 ; Job 10:2 ; Job 13:3). The answer comes now (Job 38:1). But nothing of Job’s intention to approach the Almighty “as a prince” (Job 31:37) comes to pass. The answer of “the LORD” comes “out of the whirlwind”, not to crush Job by that whirlwind, but to answer him (cf. Job 9:17). God answers as “the LORD”, the Name which is also used in Job 1-2 and which is characteristic of God’s relationship with man. The LORD comes to him in an impressive way. Job must acknowledge with Whom he has to do. But He comes to restore him, not to destroy him. When Job was plunged into misery, He also spoke through a terrible storm. It killed all his children (Job 1:19).

The first words of God immediately make clear what He blames Job for (Job 38:2). God begins with the question: “Who is this?” Therein already resounds the great exaltation of God and the great nothingness of man, Job. They are not words of contempt or of wrath, but a reproach. They are words of indignation, for Job has had the audacity to darken God’s counsel by misrepresenting His ways. This indignation of God is understandable when we remember that we do not appreciate it when things are said of us that are not true.

With his words, Job has darkened God’s counsel, which is His government of the world, including the disasters that have struck him. God reigns in disasters and plagues, in which His hand is clearly visible. But His counsel is darkened by human approaches, explanations and reasoning about them. Job has also given his explanation. In doing so he has come to accuse God of injustice, and by doing so he has darkened God’s counsel.

He has spoken “words without knowledge” about God because he misinterpreted God’s actions. He believed he knew what God should have done, but did not do. We, too, must be careful not to assume that we know God’s will and way about situations in which someone or we ourselves have ended up and which we do not understand. We do not know all the facts that God takes into account and uses in His actions.

God calls Job to gird his loins like a man (Job 38:3; Job 40:6-7; cf. 1Kgs 20:11). In this way God says to him, as it were: ‘Brace yourself to listen to My questions and then give the right answer.’ Job expressed powerful language about what he would say to God (Job 13:22 ; Job 23:4-5). God will test the power of his words by questioning him, by asking him a number of questions. God’s questions will place the proportions in the right light.

They are not questions that a man cannot understand. They are not ‘quiz questions’ to test Job’s knowledge, but educational questions. God’s goal is not to deeply make Job aware of his ignorance and thereby sweep him away, which would be very simple, but to bring him to the true knowledge of himself and of God. To grow in that knowledge is to grow in the true knowledge. That God comes to Job in this way and speaks to him in this way shows His mercy toward Job.