The God Who Knows Us

Welcome to the final message in the series on Job. If you have been reading along with us in the past three weeks through the book of Job, there is one week left to go—just five more days of chapters to read to get to the end. And today since this is the final message of the series, I am going to pull some passages from the end of the book.

Because I love the deeper connection between films and culture, I recommend the 2003 movie, Bruce Almighty, as a good film to press into the issues we have seen raised in the story of Job. The movie is meant as a comedy, but I would say the deeper meaning of this film wrestles with the exact same questions Job is wresting with. Actor Jim Carrey plays the role of Bruce Nolan whose entire life gets turned upside-down, and blames God for being unfair. Actor Morgan Freeman plays the role of God, who shows up in Bruce’s life and agrees to let Bruce take over and be God for one week. In the movie, Bruce ends up bungling everything because as it turns out, Bruce’s idea of what it means be fair just ends up making everything worse for the whole world. It’s a little rough around the edges if you can handle the idea of an actor playing the role of God in a movie that is meant to be a comedy, but I would tell you it is worthwhile to see because it puts the same questions in front of us about the nature of God’s justice as the story of Job brings to mind.

But so far in this sermon series, we have heard very little from God. It is remarkable that throughout almost the entire book of Job, God remains mostly silent. We saw God speaking in the first two chapters when satan comes to confront God in heaven. After that, God goes silent even though Job is begging chapter after chapter to hear an answer from God. It is not until chapter 38 that we finally hear from God. Job finally gets his answer from God. Or does he? Because as we read through these verses in just a moment, perhaps you quickly see that God never does answer any of Job’s questions. In fact, God’s response turns the conversation completely around. God essentially says to Job, you do not get to ask the questions and I am not obligated to answer to you for anything. Instead God says, now it is my turn to ask the questions and your turn to answer me.

And so everything we are going to read today which comes as God speaking, comes in the form of questions given back to Job. The passages today jump a little out of order because I want us to read through the tone of God’s questions first, then we will back up and see what Job has to say in reply to God.

Job 38:1–21 (NIV)

Job 38:1–21 NIV

1 Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said: 2 “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? 3 Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. 4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone— 7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? 8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, 9 when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, 10 when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, 11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’? 12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, 13 that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it? 14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment. 15 The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken. 16 “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? 17 Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness? 18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this. 19 “What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? 20 Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings? 21 Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!

Job 40:8–14 (NIV)

Job 40:8–14 NIV

8 “Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself? 9 Do you have an arm like God’s, and can your voice thunder like his? 10 Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor, and clothe yourself in honor and majesty. 11 Unleash the fury of your wrath, look at all who are proud and bring them low, 12 look at all who are proud and humble them, crush the wicked where they stand. 13 Bury them all in the dust together; shroud their faces in the grave. 14 Then I myself will admit to you that your own right hand can save you.

Job 40:1–5 (NIV)

Job 40:1–5 NIV

1 The Lord said to Job: 2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!” 3 Then Job answered the Lord: 4 “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. 5 I spoke once, but I have no answer— twice, but I will say no more.”

Let’s walk through three things today. First, let’s consider what these questions from God are all about. Second, let’s consider what Job’s response is saying. And third, let’s think about what this whole story of Job means for us today.

Start with the questions. We just read a sample here. If you are following the daily reading schedule, you will read all of it in the coming days this week. But it is helpful to have an overview of what these questions are all about if we want to know why God is answering Job in this way. As we noted all the way back in the first message, most of the book of Job is written in the form of poetry. That hold true here in these chapters where God speaks up. All the questions from God to Job are written as poetry. That means we should not be reading these passages as a quiz or a test. It is not as though God expects Job to go one-by-one, question-by-question, and give an answer to each one of them. Rather there are overall themes which come out from within these questions.

chapter 38 — questions show that Job cannot understand a perspective beyond what he sees and experiences

In these opening verses of chapter 38 we can see God posing questions which are meant to remind Job that God is so much bigger than Job. There is no way Job can answer theme questions because Job was not involved in the creation of the world, Job was not even around when the earth was created. These are questions meant to remind Job—and all of us who are readers of this book—that our perspectives and our so-called wisdom can never ever match up to God or compare with God because we, as finite created being, can never fully grasp the ways of God. In fact, these questions from God suggest that humans can only barely scratch the surface of understanding God’s knowledge and God’s wisdom.

Job cannot comprehend how God’s justice works

Pull back for a moment and let’s remind ourselves of the relevant issues coming forward from the previous chapters in Job. Remember that the question of why God allows evil to go on existing in the world is never addressed and never answered in this book; the author does not put that forward as the point of the story. Rather, the author of Job wants us, the readers, to grapple with the question of how God’s justice works. All those previous chapters of Job going back and forth with his friends peeled back the layers to show us their absolute certainty about the way they thought God’s justice is supposed to work turn out to be wrong.

Job is developing an understanding of his need for a redeemer

Remember from the message last week that this developing realization in Job’s heart of all the ways he has been wrong in understanding God’s justice is ultimately what leads Job to begin understanding that his only hope is for God to provide a mediator who will step in and be his redeemer before God on Job’s behalf. That realization which progressively comes to Job throughout the previous chapters would not have happened unless Job was allowed to experience the struggles he endures in this story. And yet, the story never comes around to any kind of full and complete explanation of how God’s justice actually works. And it seems to be the point of God’s questioning here in these final chapters to tell the readers that humans simply cannot ever wrap their minds around an understanding of God’s justice.

chapter 40 — questions show that Job cannot be God or understand God’s justice

Let’s jump ahead into chapter 40 where we see a different kind of questioning. The questions which God brings before Job in verses 8-14 of chapter 40 are essentially the entire premise of the movie, Bruce Almighty, which I referenced at the beginning. God says to Job, so you think my justice is unfair? Do you actually think you could do better if you were given the power of God? If you had the power to reward righteousness and punish wickedness the way you think should happen, do you think the outcome would be any better? God’s questions here in chapter 40 remind Job and the readers of this book that our inability to understand God’s justice means we are left to admit it is not our place to accuse God for things we cannot ever understand.

chapter 41 — questions show that Job cannot control the world or provide for all the world’s needs

We stopped at verse 14. But when you keep reading from verse 15 all the way through chapter 41 God turns his questions in another direction. In those verses God’s questions to Job all center around two mythical creatures: the behemoth and the leviathan. These are legendary creatures that Job would have thought to exist. The behemoth was thought to be a beast of the land which no one could ever catch or conquer or overpower. Scholars speculate that perhaps this might have been the hippo. The behemoth was considered at that time to be the top of the food-chain because it seemed to people during Bible times that no other creature was able to challenge it. The leviathan was the same kind of creature, but in the ocean. Scholars wonder if this might be a reference to whales. Other ancient artwork depicts the leviathan as more of a sea-serpent looking like a dragon. These two mythical creatures represented the highest powers in all the animal kingdom. No other creatures—humans included—could ever contain them or control them. And about these two creatures, God assures Job that even these great beasts are continually dependent upon God to provide for them.

Job’s response to God for all of this is very brief. In the beginning of chapter 40 he says this.

Job 40:3–5 (NIV)

Job 40:3–5 NIV

3 Then Job answered the Lord: 4 “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. 5 I spoke once, but I have no answer— twice, but I will say no more.”

Again later in chapter 43 Job adds this.

Job 42:1–3 (NIV)

Job 42:1–3 NIV

1 Then Job replied to the Lord: 2 “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.

Job’s response to God in one word: surrender

God chastises Job for accusing God God honors Job for struggling with God

We can summarize Job’s response to God with one word: surrender. Job comes to recognize that the entire posture of his life must be a position of surrender. It takes Job quite a while to find his way to this point of surrender. That’s instructive. I think the author of this story means to tell it that way because we all have examples of struggling to find our way towards surrendering to God. Sure, God comes down pretty hard on Job for making accusations against God, but I find it reassuring that God never chastises Job for wrestling with the questions; God honors Job for continually seeking after God even when that journey of seeking felt more like a fight than a pleasure cruise. Back in Genesis 32 Jacob wrested with God, and God gave Jacob a new name. From that time forward his name was Israel. And from that time forward all the descendants of Jacob were called the Israelites. The Hebrew name Israel literally means, “wrestles with God.” Job is not scolded by God for wrestling with these hard struggles. Just the opposite, God honors Job for it. Because it is the wrestling which ultimately brings Job to the spot of surrender.

Jesus calls us to a life of surrender to God, even through we may still struggle with God

And that is ultimately our response as well. For all the fighting and struggling we do in our lives to try and make our own way and try to do things under our own strength and according to our own plans, all our struggles ultimately leave us sitting back in the exact same place. We have to surrender ourselves to God as well. Jesus spoke of this often in different ways. He tells this story in Luke 18

Luke 18:10–14 (NIV)

Luke 18:10–14 NIV

10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

there is a pathway to walk through the struggles—because Jesus is the one who has cleared that pathway before us and walks through it with us

God knows this better than we know it ourselves

Because of Jesus, there is no need for you to keep trying to find your own way. Because of Jesus, God’s mercy is given to you in abundance. Because of Jesus, a life surrendered to God is a life covered by and protected in God’s grace. Because of Jesus, there is a pathway to walk through the struggles—because Jesus is the one who has cleared that pathway before us and walks through it with us. God knows this better than we know it ourselves. God knows you and God knows your needs better than we can ever know ourselves. Job wrestles his way to finding hope in a God who redeems him. Job wrestles his way to surrendering himself to God. Jesus invites us to join him there as well. In fact, Jesus taught us to pray for exactly that in these words.

Job wrestles his way to surrendering himself to God; Jesus invites us to join him there as well

Matthew 6:9–13 (NIV)

Matthew 6:9–13 NIV

9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’