The Lord Gives Answer to Job

So Job and all his buddies have been sorting through all their thoughts on God through the calamities which Job has faced. Job faced them only because God allowed Satan to test him so sorely.

Here then is God!

God comes to Job out of a whirlwind.
He first tells Job that he talks without knowledge.

2"Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

He then addresses Job straight up:

3Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.

And then we see who God is

He made the world. He made the decisions about it all.

4"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
5Who determined its measurements--surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
6On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
7when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

God made the decisions about where the seas and oceans and rivers lie. He made the clouds and darkness that contain it.

8"Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb,
9when I made clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10and prescribed limits for it
and set bars and doors,
11and said, 'Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stayed'?

God is the one who sets the mornings and evenings in place. He shows here how the wicked like the darkness, and God brings the mornings to shake the wicked out of hiding.

12"Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
and caused the dawn to know its place,
13that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
and the wicked be shaken out of it?
14It is changed like clay under the seal,
and its features stand out like a garment.
15From the wicked their light is withheld,
and their uplifted arm is broken.

God is the one who knows where the sea springs are. HE is the one who has walked in the depths. He is the one who knows the gates of death. He is the who knows the fullness of the earth. God knows these things.

16"Have you entered into the springs of the sea,
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
18Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
Declare, if you know all this.

God knows the way to light and darkness. He can take their territory. Does Job know these things challenges God.

19"Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
and where is the place of darkness,
20that you may take it to its territory
and that you may discern the paths to its home?
21You know, for you were born then,
and the number of your days is great!

We learn that God has storehouses of Snow and Hail which he keeps for times of trouble, for that day of battle and war.

22"Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
23which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war?

We learn that God who knows how light is distributed, that he knows how the wind moves on the earth. God does it all. God knows it all.

24What is the way to the place where the light is distributed,
or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?

God handles the rain for us. Knowing when to send, and when not to.

25"Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain
and a way for the thunderbolt,
26to bring rain on a land where no man is,
on the desert in which there is no man,
27to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
and to make the ground sprout with grass?

God is the one who set the stars in their places. He guides the animals with their young. He knows what rules affect the sun, the stars, the very heavens themselves. Does Job know all this? Can Job send forth lightning? Can Job number the clouds themselves? Can he .....??

1"Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades
or loose the cords of Orion?
32Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,
or can you guide the Bear with its children?
33Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
Can you establish their rule on the earth?

34"Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
that a flood of waters may cover you?
35Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go
and say to you, 'Here we are'?

Who, God asks, has put wisdom into the inward parts?

Who, God asks, can give the mind understanding?

Who, God asks, can give the lion, the raven and so forth it's prey?

39"Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in their thicket?
41Who provides for the raven its prey,
when its young ones cry to God for help,
and wander about for lack of food?

God will continue to challenge Job in the next couple of chapters. But I find it fascinating to read these chapters.

I have to admit I often go about my day to day business without even really thinking about all the God does to sustain the world. I don't wonder the rising or setting of the sun. I don't wonder that my family has food. I don't wonder that the stars themselves don't fall down on my head everyday. I just accept it.

BUT GOD!!!!
He does all these things.

See the way he cares for us?