End Of Job

The Lord Answers: Who Are You, And Who Am I?

Job 38:1–11 ESV

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? “Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?

Who is this that darkens counsel without knowledge?

How often is this us when we speak in pride, claiming to know all things?

Job is getting what he wanted: an audience before God to demand answers from him.

God responds by putting Job in his place.

Job Responds Once

Job 40:3–5 ESV

Then Job answered the Lord and said: “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further.”

Job responds by shutting up

The Lord Continues

Job 40:6–41:5 ESV

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right? Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his? “Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity; clothe yourself with glory and splendor. Pour out the overflowings of your anger, and look on everyone who is proud and abase him. Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low and tread down the wicked where they stand. Hide them all in the dust together; bind their faces in the world below. Then will I also acknowledge to you that your own right hand can save you. “Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you; he eats grass like an ox. Behold, his strength in his loins, and his power in the muscles of his belly. He makes his tail stiff like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are knit together. His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like bars of iron. “He is the first of the works of God; let him who made him bring near his sword! For the mountains yield food for him where all the wild beasts play. Under the lotus plants he lies, in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh. For his shade the lotus trees cover him; the willows of the brook surround him. Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened; he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth. Can one take him by his eyes, or pierce his nose with a snare? “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord? Can you put a rope in his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak to you soft words? Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant forever? Will you play with him as with a bird, or will you put him on a leash for your girls?

Job lost sight of who God really is, and it caused him to be the best thing in the world in his own eyes

It can be easy for us to get comfortable with our own ideas about God. How can we fight against that, and see him for who he is?

We have to be so careful that God doesn’t just become another religious symbol in our lives, but that we remember that he is the living, almighty, all-powerful God who made everything and sustains everything in existence.

We do this by watching the sunset, reading, meditating, listening to good teaching, and reminding one another about how awesome God is.

When Job was confronted with the reality of God, it led him to repent.

Job Repents

Job 42:2–6 ESV

“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

To come into the presence of the living God forces man into repentance. To see true holiness and power reminds us that we are sinful and weak.

We hear about God with our ears, and we see him acting through other people and events, but one day you will see him with your eyes. Part of my job, and part of the job of your spiritual leaders, is to get you ready for that day.

William Still said, “Pastoring people is preparing people to die, and meet God.”

Isaiah coming to see God

What will your response be?

Repent, and plead that Christ is your all in all.

Christ took on our sin so that we can stand before that awesome, almighty, all-powerful God! It is only in him that we can approach that wonderful God and live.

What should we do when we come to see who God is?

The Lord Restores

Job 42:7–17 ESV

After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the Lord had told them, and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer. And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold. And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. He had also seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, four generations. And Job died, an old man, and full of days.

After Job repents, God blesses him and restores his fortunes to be even greater than they were before.

Additionally, the Lord makes Job into a kind of priest on behalf of his friends, and forgiveness is even extended to the friends after they repent!

We can have equal confidence that our God forgives us when we repent, and we can have even more confidence because we have been washed clean by the blood of Jesus.

What can we expect from God when we repent?