Who Gives Understanding?
Job • Sermon • Submitted
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Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth? Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee? Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are? Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart? Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven, When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together? Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions, When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait? Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.
One question that the Bible always keeps in front of us is, Who sits on the throne? Who governs the whole universe? Who manages every detail?
We can ask the same question any number of ways. Do kings govern as much as they sometimes think they do? The Bible says that they can only do what God gives them to do. Solomon wrote,
The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
The elders are even more acutely aware of our limitations in regard to church government. Our authority is strictly ministerial and declarative, i.e., service and Word oriented. Jesus Christ rules by his Word and Spirit, ministering through his servants.
But what about each individual? The notion of rugged individualism is the American way. Everyone thinks he can do whatever he wants, that he’s the captain of his own fate. Arminianism, likewise, exalts man to the throne and gives him the ultimate say over his own salvation. And this man-on-the-throne theology sometimes finds its way into our thinking, especially in trying times. Like Job, we want to find our own answers.
But the truth is that God has never abdicated his reign. The kingdom is, and always has been, his. Today’s text reinforces this glorious truth.
The Constellations
The Constellations
The first subject that the Lord questioned Job about in today’s text is the stars. He mentioned three constellations in verses 31 and 32: the Pleiades, Orion and Arcturus — the same three constellations that Job spoke of in chapter 9 (Job 9:9). Today we know them as the Seven Sisters, the Hunter and the Guardian of the Bear. It’s possible that there’s a fourth constellation in the first part of verse 32. The KJV calls it Mazzaroth, but actually the meaning of this word is unclear. Some think it’s a planet, others a constellation, and still others the twelve signs of the Zodiac.
Astrology is largely based on the twelve major constellations and assumes that they have tremendous power to control things like the weather and human fortunes. Sadly, even some Christians follow astrology. One notable example of this is the sixteenth-century theologian and reformer Philip Melanchthon, Martin Luther’s friend and colleague. I don’t want to give the impression that Melanchthon was all bad. He was the first person to teach what we now call the third use of the law — the idea that God’s commandments teach us how to thank him for our salvation. Just think of the third part of our catechism. Melanchthon also modified Luther’s doctrine of the Lord’s Supper in a way that made it more compatible with Reformed theology, even gaining the support of John Calvin. But he was also very superstitious. He refused to go on a journey unless the stars were configured in his favor.
Melanchthon should have known that the stars don’t control our destinies. The Lord made this clear in the first chapter of the Bible. On the fourth day of creation he put the sun, moon and stars in place. They serve at his command, not he at theirs. Moses wrote,
And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
The heavenly bodies are not gods; they are creatures of God, who made them to give light to the earth. They never act independently of God, nor do they have power to determine human affairs. Therefore, as Christians we do not “thank our lucky stars.”
Nonetheless, what the Lord says about the stars in our text helps us understand what ancient people thought of them. They believed that the stars were sometimes bound and led around, and sometimes loosed. That is, when a constellation arose in the sky, it was thought to be harnessed to its course; and when it set, its harness was thought to have been relaxed. The Lord asked Job in verse 33 if he had the power to do this:
Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?
Was Job the one who put the stars in their courses to rule over the earth? Of course not. The government of the stars belongs only to God. Jeremiah 31:35 says,
Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:
The regularity and orderliness of the heavenly lights displays both his power and wisdom. But for believers there’s even more. The Lord’s faithful government of the world also testify to his faithfulness to us, his people. The very next verse in Jeremiah says,
If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
Here we have an unbreakable promise, one that should make every believer’s heart rejoice. There is nothing in the universe that can separate believers from the love of Jesus Christ. Period. Exclamation point. Bold type. It just can’t happen. Jesus said,
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
The Clouds
The Clouds
Next, the Lord asked Job about the clouds. Perhaps we can excuse Job for not understanding the movement of the stars. They are kind of far away. But the clouds are a lot closer. Maybe he has more information about things closer to earth.
In times of drought, men cry out for water because we can’t live without it. There have been times when we’ve prayed for water. But did Job have the power to make it rain? Could he send lightning across the sky? No way. Even Elijah couldn’t do such things. He could only pray. James 5:17–18 says,
Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
Samuel also prayed for rain, and the Lord sent rain that very day (1 Sam. 12:18).
But Job, being only a man, had no power over the clouds. He didn’t even understand them, let alone control them. But the Lord can. In fact, only God can. Jesus said that our heavenly Father sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust (Matt. 5:45). The Lord generally gives rain when it’s needed.
God’s questions about the clouds are in verses 34 through 38, but right in the middle there’s a rather strange question that doesn’t seem to fit. Verse 36 asks,
Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?
One reason why this sounds strange is that commentators cannot agree about the meaning of two words — the words translated inward parts (בַּטֻּח֣וֹת) and heart (לַשֶּׂ֣כְוִי). Some think they should be translated ‘clouds’ and ‘mist,’ meaning that various weather patterns manifest God’s wisdom. Or are these words names of other constellations? A lot of commentators think they’re birds, particularly the rooster and the ibis, both of which were thought to have the ability to announce changes in the weather. The Good News Bible even translate it that way: “Who tells the ibis when the Nile will flood, or who tells the cock that rain will fall?” But most translations agree with ours, and overall I think this gives the best sense. The Lord asked Job about the source of human wisdom to remind him that he alone gives wisdom to man. God opens men’s eyes, allowing us to glorify him as the one who controls the clouds and the rain with great wisdom.
On the other hand, this verse is also a subtle warning not to puff ourselves up. Why? Because, although God gives us enough wisdom to discern his power, wisdom and just government in the clouds and rain, it’s not enough to understand everything about clouds and rain. And that’s evident in our inability to get forecast the weather. Weather forecasts here in California are not usually too far off, but that’s because the weather doesn’t change much from day to day. But in the eastern states, weather forecasts are notoriously bad.
We should therefore pray not only for rain, but also for wisdom from the Word of God. David wrote,
Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
And James wrote,
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
And ultimately, wisdom is found in Jesus Christ, who is the wisdom of God incarnate. At this time of year, when we set aside time specifically to thank God for the abundance of his blessings, let’s not forget to thank him for the greatest blessing of all — his Son, in whom we find perfect wisdom and understanding, and whose wisdom is revealed most clearly in his precious death on the cross for our sins!
Lions and Ravens
Lions and Ravens
The last three verses of today’s text mark a big change from what we’ve seen so far in the Lord’s interrogation of Job. In the first thirty-eight verses of this chapter, God asked Job about the inanimate creation — the foundations of the earth, the seas, light, constellations, and so forth. But verse 39 introduces the world of animals — lions in verses 39 and 40, and ravens in verse 41. It also brings things a lot closer to home for Job. The frequency with which lions are mentioned in the Bible suggests that they were a constant threat. Certainly, Job could answer some basic questions about them, right?
Yet, the question that God asked Job about the lions is kind of strange. It wasn’t, Do you know who gives lions their food? but, Will you hunt their food for them? Men don’t ordinarily hunt food for wild animals. Why would we? Lions are much better hunters than we are. So, what’s the point here?
The first and most obvious point is that lions, being wild creatures, neither submit to man nor depend upon him. In fact, the opposite is true: a hungry lion wouldn’t give a second thought about hunting a man and feeding his scrawny flesh to its offspring. But this only reinforces the second and main point, viz., that the only true Lord and Master of wild animals is God himself. Every bit of their food comes from him. Psalm 104 — the creation psalm that we’ve mentioned numerous times in our study of Job 38 — specifically says so. Verse 21 says,
The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.
The same thing is true of the ravens in verse 41. Although ravens are classified as unclean in the law of Moses, God still takes care of them. He feeds them and their young. Psalm 147:9 says,
He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.
And Jesus said,
Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?
All of these animals cry out to God for their food; none of them cries out to Job.
And doesn’t the Lord provide for all of our needs as well? Ephesians 3:20 says that he is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. And not only is he able, but James wrote that
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Even those things that seem most wrong are blessings in the hands of God. Do you remember how Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsie, who were sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp for helping Jews during the second World War, thanked God for the fleas that were eating them alive. Why did they do this? Because they realized that God had sent the fleas to keep the guards out of their quarters when Betsie was sick?
The fact that God is in control and that his Son Jesus Christ, our crucified and risen Savior, sits at his right hand gives us everything to be thankful for. Nothing happens apart from his decree. That’s what Job needed to hear. It’s what you and I also need to hear, too. We’re no more in control that Job was. We have no wisdom of our own. We need Jesus, and in him we find everything that we don’t have — life, hope, peace, love, mercy, wisdom, comfort, rest, and so much more.
In our day, it seems like the world is spinning out of control. It isn’t, of course, but it seems like it. The current year is a good example. Look what’s happened since the beginning of January: the impeachment of a President, the Covid-19 pandemic, paper and food shortages, shootings, riots, the destruction of cities, and perhaps the craziest elections in our history. And if Job had trouble understanding his suffering, we do, too. In fact, our trials have shaken our world so much that for some once-cherished doctrines like Reformed Church government have been replaced with a radical spirit of each person choosing for himself what he will or will not submit to. This is especially sad since there’s no reason for it. The truth of the Word of God and the gospel has never been at stake.
It seems, though, that the greatest casualty of 2020 in the church at large is the loss of the comfort of God's absolute sovereignty. Instead of turning to him, who alone has all the answers to all our problems, we look to ourselves or to each other, sometimes even turning against each other, or we put our trust in princes, scientists, health experts, imagining that the answer is to be found somewhere in mankind’s vast reserves of understanding. But doesn’t the book of Job teach us to do exactly the opposite? No matter how deeply Job and his friends penetrated their own minds, they found nothing even remotely helpful. Then God revealed himself to Job as the Sovereign that he is — the one who governs the stars in their courses, who forms the clouds and the rain, who feeds each of his creatures, including those that are unclean. And his glory is revealed even more clearly to us because we see it in the salvation of sinners through the shed blood of his Son.
But we miss all of this when we focus on our suffering and trials instead of the greatness of God. The wrong perspective can only produce fear, bitterness and separation. The right one yields peace and reassurance and unity to the glory of God. Amen.