The God who Answers

open: someone having a surprise encounter with a person they thought they knew. During the encounter they realize they had some wrong thoughts

Our God is Close at hand ()

Explanation: God re-enters the story line abruptly in Chapter 38 after His absence since the close of Chapter 2. Elihu has just finished defending the Wisdom and Power of God when the Almighty chooses to speak for Himself. From the end of Chapter 36 through the entirety of Chapter 37, Elihu has been lifting up the Awesomeness of God. He has been describing how God speaks through thunder (37:1-4), and how God commands the direction of the lightning (). As he finishes by scolding Job for failing to understand the Majesty of God (37:14-24), the Almighty chooses to personally enter the discussion. And He makes a very dramatic entrance in a storm!

Job and his friends must have been shocked by God’s entrance. The four of them are sitting and listening to Elihu talk about God’s command of thunder and lightning when it suddenly starts to get dark. Out of nowhere the clouds cover the sun, the temperature falls, and the wind begins to pick up. It is one thing to talk about God in an abstract manner; it is quite another when He actually shows up!

Illustrate: people who have “hurricane parties” who end up getting more than they bargained for

Argument: It is very easy for us to forget that God is real and personal, especially when we are going through difficult times. We think of God as far away and unconcerned. All through the book, Job and his friends have been using names for God that emphasis His nature as Deity and His Power (The Almighty, the Maker, the Holy One, etc.), but the Narrator uses the covenant Name YHWH to remind readers of God’s personal nature. For the Jewish people, this Name of God was both a comfort and a Promise.

For Christians on this side of the Cross, the Incarnation serves as our reminder that our God is a very personal God. He chose to enter His creation, and He chose to come and pay a ransom for those He would redeem. This action of love is a powerful message of love and closeness.

Application: God is the Awesome Creator God of the Cosmos, but He is also the One who is as close as our next breath. The Spirit of Christ is ever-present in the life of a believer, regardless of circumstances.

Our God is All-Knowing ()

Explanation: When God takes center stage, He quickly puts Job on the defensive. What an incredible turnaround! From the beginning of Chapter 3 through the end of Chapter 31, Job has been railing against the unfairness of his situation. When the friends respond with possible reasons, Job counters every argument they bring and finally silences them. God immediately challenges Job by calling him a person who “darkens counsel,” a person who has simply been speaking words without knowledge.” God is calling Job a windbag! Job had become arrogant in his supposed understanding of God, so God takes him down a notch.

Illustrate: Bible Jeopardy with teams. The son gave a wrong answer and the dad stated, “son, when you don’t know – defer to the one with knowledge.” The father then gave an answer that was also wrong!

Argument: Now these men did have knowledge of God. They were not unaware or spiritually ignorant. They did not, however, have a complete understanding of God’s Plans and Purposes. And through God’s questioning of Job (chapters 38 – 41) about the running of the universe and planet earth, it becomes plain that Job’s knowledge comes up short. Job can’t answer because he doesn’t know; the answers are beyond his comprehension. God brings Job face to face with his limitations as a creature, and it humbles him.

After all of his talking in the early chapters, Job only speaks three more times, and each of them is brief. Job declares that he was wrong and didn’t know what he was talking about!

Application: Worship requires maintaining the proper category distinctions between the Creator and the created. We are to approach God humbly and with fear and trembling. We are not to get too comfortable

Our God is Free ()

Explanation: Job wants God to give an accounting for what He has allowed to happen in Job’s life. Job has been continually asking God the WHY question. Job has been frustrated by the silence of God, and he has been busy planning strategies in his futile attempt to bring God to the table.

Now that God reveals Himself and is speaking directly to God, the reader expects God to inform Job about the Adversary. We expect God to inform Job about the Heavenly Council, the Accuser’s charge against God, and how the tragedies in Job’s life are actually a challenge to God’s policies about His Justice. Amazingly, God doesn’t tell Job a single thing about the Heavenly Council or the Accuser’s challenge. God never even addresses the WHY question with Job.

Instead of answering all of Job’s complaints, the LORD begins to question the questioner. His introduction to the questioning session doesn’t give Job a warm fuzzy feeling either. This is more like a trip to the Principal’s office instead of hanging out at the coffee shop and chatting. God’s tone is very firm and it quickly becomes clear that Job is the one in the hot seat for his presumptuous attitude.

Illustrate: Wearing the “Because I’m the Mommy” button

Argument: God was not obligated to Job. God did not owe Job an explanation. He is the Creator. He is the Eternal One who inhabits Eternity. He is the all-knowing One and He is God who “is in the heavens; [and] He does all that He pleases ().

God was not obligated to Job. God did not owe Job an explanation. He is the Creator. He is the Eternal One who inhabits Eternity. He is the all-knowing One and He is God who “is in the heavens; [and] He does all that He pleases.

God is not obligated to us either. God is completely free and is not bound by our choices or our responses. Jehovah God will not and does not fit in any box of our making. He is outside our limited understanding, and He will not be reduced to a being that can be figured out by one of His creatures. King Solomon recognized the limitless of the Almighty when he declared this truth about God: “heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, much less this house that I have built” ()

Application: You CAN accept that truth that God will not answer all of you WHY questions. He is God, not a genie that we can command or manipulate. BUT, and this is crucial: you CAN trust Him. He is the One with the Power, Authority, and Wisdom. He knows even when we don’t, so trust HIm

Our God is Sufficient ()

Explanation: The LORD begins to question Job with a series of questions that demonstrates just how limited and powerless Job really is. Each of the questions that God asks point to Job’s inability to understand or accomplish the task.

Verses 4-7 deal with the act of Creation itself. God is asking if Job was even around when He created the Cosmos out of nothing. Answer: No, Job wasn’t part of that.

Verses 8-11 deal with the limits of the water in the oceans. God asks Job if he was the one powerful enough to set the limits of the waves. Answer: No, Job wasn’t able to do that

Verses 12-15 deal with the cycles of light and darkness. God asks Job if he is able to cause the sun to rise, thereby limiting the evil that occurs in the dark. Answer: No, Job cannot control the sun

Verses 16-17 deal with the gates of hell. God asks Job if he is even aware of them and their location. Answer: No, Job doesn’t know.

Illustrate: Physics midterm my second year at UT. Only had 2 problems and I had a huge red X that covered the entire page. In the margin, again in red ink, (he was obviously not concerned with my emotional well-being!) the professor had written: “you obviously have no understanding of the physics involved in this problem at all.”

Argument: When we really examine the important things of life in an honest manner, we will quickly arrive at the same conclusion: We really don’t know what is going on; we really don’t have all the answers; we really don’t have it all together. That’s really OK, because we don’t have to have all the answers. All we really need is to know the ONE who does. Our God is Sufficient - He does have all the answers and we can simply trust Him

Application: Admitting that you are not in control is wonderful. [You aren’t in control anyway, but admitting it is the first step to spiritual wholeness]. God is the center of the Universe and He is the Ruler on His throne. He is not going to step down, He cannot be impeached or replaced, and He is very much in control of the world. You and I are simply called to Trust and Obey.