Job

Chapter 37 (ESV) - “At this also my heart trembles
    and leaps out of its place.
Keep listening to the thunder of his voice
    and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
Under the whole heaven he lets it go,
    and his lightning to the corners of the earth.
after it his voice roars;
    he thunders with his majestic voice,
    and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard.
God thunders wondrously with his voice;
    he does great things that we cannot comprehend.
For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’
    likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.
He seals up the hand of every man,
    that all men whom he made may know it.
Then the beasts go into their lairs,
    and remain in their dens.
From its chamber comes the whirlwind,
    and cold from the scattering winds.
By the breath of God ice is given,
    and the broad waters are frozen fast.
He loads the thick cloud with moisture;
    the clouds scatter his lightning.
They turn around and around by his guidance,
    to accomplish all that he commands them
    on the face of the habitable world.
Whether for correction or for his land
    or for love, he causes it to happen.

“Hear this, O Job;
    stop and consider the wondrous works of God.
Do you know how God lays his command upon them
    and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?
Do you know the balancings of the clouds,
    the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge,
you whose garments are hot
    when the earth is still because of the south wind?
Can you, like him, spread out the skies,
    hard as a cast metal mirror?
Teach us what we shall say to him;
    we cannot draw up our case because of darkness.
Shall it be told him that I would speak?
    Did a man ever wish that he would be swallowed up?

“And now no one looks on the light
    when it is bright in the skies,
    when the wind has passed and cleared them.
Out of the north comes golden splendor;
    God is clothed with awesome majesty.
The Almighty—we cannot find him;
    he is great in power;
    justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate.
Therefore men fear him;
    he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit.”

Question to consider: What can we learn about God from nature?

Elihu wrapped up his comments by describing the natural revelation of God, and appealing to Job to consider His awesome works in the world before continuing on his quest to contend with Him. There is a bit of irony to Elihu’s exhortation that God “...does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit,” considering that he has already professed perfect knowledge and the ability to advocate for Job before God.

It is important to remember that outside of oral traditions handed down to Job and Elihu concerning God, God’s natural revelation in creation was the primary way in which they came to understand God. The books of Moses would not have come about for another 400 years. While the natural revelation of God in creation points to His existence, it does not reveal God’s remedy for our sin. Given that Job was described as a man of prayer who interceded for his family, I believe that Job’s deeper understanding of his Redeemer came to him in these times in which he called out to God in faith. The experience of losing his family, possessions and health was eclipsed by his longing to reconnect with God in prayer.

Often, people will express a desire to have lived at the time of Jesus to witness His miraculous signs and ultimately His resurrection from the dead. However, we live at a time in which we have the written revelation of God and His Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin, illuminates His word, and points us to Christ. We have two thousand years of history to see how God has worked through His saints in the midst of a world in which the demonic forces have waged war against them. We live at the right time because God has “determined allotted periods and the boundaries of [our] dwelling place, that [we] should seek God, and perhaps feel [our] way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.” (Acts 17:26-27) This statement by the apostle Paul was true for the Areopagus, and it is true for us today.

Prayer

Dear heavenly Father, thank You for giving us the specific revelation of Christ in Your word. Please stir up in us a desire to know You more deeply through what You have revealed to us. Amen.